Consideration of reports submitted by States parties under article 18 of
the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against
Women

Fifth periodic report of States parties

* For the initial report submitted by the Government of the United Kingdom,
see CEDAW/C/5/Add.52, which was considered by the Committee
at its ninth
session; for the second periodic report, see CEDAW/C/UK/2, which was considered
by the Committee at its twelfth session;
for the third periodic report, see
CEDAW/C/UK/3 and Add.1 and 2, which was considered by the Committee at its
twenty-first session;
for the fourth periodic report, see CEDAW/C/UK/4 and
Add.1-4, which was considered by the Committee at its twenty-first session.

12.4 Number of people setting a quit date through NHS Smoking Cessation
Services

12.5 Prevalence of cigarette smoking by sex and socio-economic group

12.6 Prevalence of use of tobacco products by ethnic minorities

12.7 Reports of AIDS diagnoses in the UK 1998-2002

12.8 Reports of HIV diagnoses in the UK 1998-2001

Article 15

15.1 Men and women in the judiciary in England and Wales, including
percentage of women to men: 1994/1997/2002

15.2 Legal aid

Article 16

16.1 Women proceeded against at the magistrates’ courts and found
guilty at all courts for different

offence groups, England and Wales 2000

16.2 Whether victim told anyone about last incident of sexual victimization
experienced since age 16,

by type of attack

Annex 3: List of acronyms

I. FOREWORD

The Labour Government, now in its second term, continues to promote the
advancement of women and gender equality as a big part of
our commitment to
ensure a society and an economy where women can play a full role, where their
contributions are acknowledged and
valued, where they can make choices about
their lives and where they can live free from fear of violence. The UK’s
fifth periodic
report on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination
of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women covers the period
between 1999 and
2003.

On the dawn of this millennium we can look back at some major achievements in
promoting the advancement of women and gender equality.
The bigger picture is
distinctly more favourable for women in 2003 than it has been at any time
before. The UK Government has made
enormous strides by promoting gender equality
in employment, education, health, economic and social policy, as well as
tackling violence
against women. At the same time, we acknowledge that women in
the UK still face a number of challenges. There is more to do.

The present report illustrates how the UK Government has taken this process
forward in the last four years, placing the needs of women
at the heart of
policy-making and public service delivery.

In doing so, we have underlined our commitment to strengthening the
foundations of a society, where women can access and benefit from
opportunities
on an equal footing with men.

Patricia Hewitt Jacqui Smith

Secretary of State, Department of Trade Minister of State for
Industry

and Industry and the Regions

Minister for Women Deputy Minister for Women and Equality

II. INTRODUCTION

1. The Government considers the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women a critical instrument for
the advancement of women
and gender equality. The UK signed the Convention in 1981 and ratified it in
April 1986. In accordance with
article 18 of the Convention, the UK undertakes
to submit reports to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against
Women
every four years, on the measures adopted to give effect to the
Convention. The Committee considered the UK’s third and fourth
periodic
reports (CEDAW/C/UK/3 and CEDAW/C/UK/4) at its 429th and
430th meetings, on 10 June 1999. Following consideration of these
reports the Committee issued a number of concluding comments (A/54/38/Rev.1)
that were widely disseminated across Government.

2. While across the UK, the gender equality agenda shares the common goal of
eliminating discrimination against women, in the devolved
administrations, the
gender equality agenda is, to varying degrees, largely addressed at the regional
level with the aim to take
into account the local needs and priorities. Indeed,
the devolution process, still in its infancy, has brought many benefits to
women.
The devolution experience is illustrated in section (v), as well as
throughout the articles of this report.

3. The report was compiled by the Women and Equality Unit in close
partnership with other Government departments and the devolved
administrations
of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Extensive collaboration between
Government departments and devolved administrations
was a high priority during
the drafting phase of the report, reflecting the cross-cutting nature of gender
issues.

4. The Government also places great value on incorporating women’s
views into the report. For this reason, women’s NGOs,
through the
Women’s National Commission, as well as the Equal Opportunities
Commission, the Equality Commission in Northern
Ireland, and the Northern
Ireland Human Rights Commission, were extensively consulted during the drafting
phase of the report.

5. In light of the page limit (70 pages) for periodic reports, the baseline
information on the Government measures to eliminate discrimination
against women
is not included. We encourage the reader to refer to the previous UK
reports[1] on the implementation of
the Convention to obtain a comprehensive picture of the Government’s
actions to meet its obligations
under the Convention. The present report focuses
on the most significant measures adopted by the Government since 1999 to
eliminate
discrimination against women in the UK, including measures adopted to
address the Committee’s concluding comments (A/54/38/Rev.1).
Due to the
page limit the report does not illustrate all measures implemented by the
Government in this field between 1999 and 2003.

6. The report outlines the legislative, judicial and administrative measures
that the UK Government has adopted, between 1999 and
2003, to give effect to the
Convention, as well as follow-up to the concluding comments (A/54/38/Rev.1) of
the Committee. The report
is structured following the articles of the Convention
and covers new measures across Government as well as new and planned legislation
aimed at eliminating discrimination against women.

7. The UK Government[2] has
continued to make progress for the advancement of women and gender equality by
introducing legislative and non-legislative measures
in employment rights,
childcare, education, health, civil partnerships, political and public life,
social and economic policy, as
well as reducing violence against women. In
taking forward this process, the Women and Equality Unit in the Department of
Trade and
Industry has supported the Ministers for Women raising issues that
affect women across the Government’s agenda.

8. The UK is fully committed to the follow-up to the Beijing Platform for
Action — specifically the actions to be taken in regard
to the 12 critical
areas of concern identified in the Platform — as well as the further
actions and initiatives to implement
the Beijing Declaration and Platform for
Action agreed by the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly,
“Women
2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first
century” (referred to as Beijing+5), in June 2000. In the
UK, the
promotion of gender equality through legislative and non-legislative means, as
described in this report, fall within the
framework of the Beijing Platform for
Action and the Beijing+5 outcome document. It should be noted that as part of
the twenty-third
special session of the General Assembly preparations, the UK
published a document entitled ‘Equality in Practice’,
highlighting UK key domestic and international achievements for the
advancement of women.

9. The Government recognizes that women in the UK still face a number of
challenges. Continued compliance with the Convention and
a determination to
eliminate all forms of discrimination against women are themes running through
UK Government policy aimed at removing
any obstacles to women’s equal
opportunities with men. In this context, the Government will continue to work in
partnership
with civil society towards the goals set out in the Convention.

III. RESERVATIONS TO THE CONVENTION

10. On 7 March 2002, the Government announced a review of the UK’s
position under various international human rights instruments.
In accordance
with the United Nation’s request to review all reservations to the
Convention, the Government is reviewing the
UK reservations, as well as the
CEDAW Optional Protocol, as part of this exercise. NGOs have been consulted on
their views about
the UK signing the Optional Protocol. The Government will
report on the outcome of this review in summer 2003. For details of reservations
made by the Government see the UK’s fourth periodic report on the
Convention (p. 22).

IV. INSTITUTIONS PROMOTING THE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN AND GENDER
EQUALITY

Women and Equality Unit (WEU)

11. The Women and Equality Unit has lead responsibility within Government for
policy on women, gender equality, sexual orientation
and the co-ordination of
equality. It also provides support across the Department for Trade and Industry
(DTI) in ensuring that equality
is integral to the development and delivery of
the department’s policies and services. The Ministers for Women, Patricia
Hewitt,
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and Jacqui Smith, Minister of
State for Industry and the Regions and Deputy Minister for
Women and Equality,
supported by the Women and Equality Unit, lead on gender equality in Government.
Jacqui Smith also has specific
responsibility for equality in relation to sexual
orientation and equality co-ordination across Government. Baroness Scotland is
spokesperson for equality in the House of Lords. Ministers and officials also
work with devolved administrations on areas of joint
responsibility.

12. The aim of the Unit is to reduce and remove barriers to opportunity for
all. WEU works with officials across Government to bring
about measurable
improvements in the position of women that benefit society generally and promote
equality for all, particularly
in the development and delivery of Government
policy and services. Specific roles include:

• Leading the development of a more integrated approach across
Government and its bodies on equality to increase opportunities
for all.

• Leading on legislation and sponsoring other bodies (the Equal
Opportunities Commission and Women’s National Commission)
in the equality
areas where WEU has policy lead within Government.

• Undertaking specific projects solely or in partnership, where the WEU
takes an interest in an area, function, topic to identify
issues and policy.

• Evaluating the impact of policies and contributing to redesign/new
policies.

Tools for gender mainstreaming across Government

13. Gender mainstreaming is central to the Government’s efforts to
improve policies and public services. The WEU has developed
two easy-to-use
gender mainstreaming tools, Gender Impact Assessments and Diversity,
Policy and Services, that put people at the heart of policy-making, and lead
to better Government by making diversity issues visible in the mainstream
of
society. They provide a methodology for policy makers to assess whether their
policies will deliver equality of opportunity across
the board, and help to
challenge policy makers to question the assumption that policies and services
affect everyone in the same
way. The Government is working to apply Equality
Impact Assessments to legislation, policy plans and programmes, budgets,

reports and existing policies and services. The Government recognises that
such assessments should be

done at an early stage in the decision making process so that policies can be
changed – or even scrapped —

14. The Government has committed itself to reducing gender inequalities in
the first ever gender equality Public Service Agreement
(PSA) objective
announced last year: “By 2006, working with all departments, the
Government will work to bring about measurable improvements in gender equality
across a
range of indicators, as part of our objectives on equality and social
inclusion”. This objective is supported by specific targets and
initiatives across Government, which the Ministers for Women believe
are key to
delivering improvements in gender equality. These are set out in the document
Delivering on Gender Equality, published in June 2003. These targets
cover areas including childcare, equal pay, flexible working, public
appointments and domestic
violence. The Women and Equality Unit will work with
Departments to help in the delivery process and will report on progress
throughout
the Spending Review period (2003-06). Delivering on Gender
Equality also sets out the broader context of work going on right across
Government to make a positive impact on gender equality: including
skills,
training, education, ill health, and transport. The breadth of these initiatives
shows that gender mainstreaming has begun
to become a reality in many key
Departments.

Women’s National Commission
(WNC)

15. The WNC was set up more than 30 years ago as the official, independent
advisory body giving the views of women to Government.
It is an Advisory Non
Departmental Public Body (NDPB), fully funded by Government, but is able to
comment freely on government policy.
The WNC has an expanded membership of over
230 women’s organisations covering the whole of the UK, representing a
unique vehicle
for presenting women’s views, needs, concerns and
priorities to the Government. Since the submission of the UK’s fourth
periodic report on the Convention and ‘shadow’ reports, the WNC has
undergone a major re-organisation. The WNC now agrees
its annual work programme
with the Minister for Women and will be held accountable to the Minister for the
achievement of targets
and objectives; has a Chair and Steering Group who are
appointed as part of the national Public Appointment system to ensure fairness
and transparency. The WNC is located in the Department for Trade and Industry
alongside the Women and Equality Unit, to support the
Minister for Women. The
WNC is able to liaise with, and is consulted by, the Unit as well as other
Government Departments.

Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC)

16. The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) is the lead agency working to
eliminate sex discrimination in Britain. The organisation
was established under
the Sex Discrimination Act in 1975. It was set up as an independent statutory
body with the following powers
to:

• work towards the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of sex
or marriage;

• promote equality of opportunity for women and men;

• keep the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equal Pay Act under
review;

• provide legal advice and assistance to individuals who have been
discriminated against.

The EOC is a Non-Departmental Public Body funded through grant-in-aid. Its
sponsor department is the Women and Equality Unit at the
Department for Trade
and Industry. Although independent of Government, the EOC is responsible to the
Minister for Women. It has separate
offices in Scotland and Wales.

Single Equality Body — the project

17. Following the consultation document Towards Equality and
Diversity, published in December 2001, the Government could see arguments in
the longer term in favour of a single statutory commission. The
project has
stimulated a lively debate both on the principles that underpin UK equality
institutions and future options. The Equality
Institutions Review is the most
significant review of equality in over a quarter of a century. It is centred on
looking at long-term
options for the priorities and role of equality
institutions in Great Britain. The initial phase of this project was completed
in
October 2002, with the publication of a consultation document entitled
Equality and Diversity: Making it Happen. The consultation document set
out the Government’s assessment of the priorities for equality and the
challenges ahead. It looked
at what equality institutions could contribute to
making the Government’s vision of equality a reality, invited views on
possible
structures for the future and looked at a number of cross-cutting
issues that the Government will address. These include the relationship
between
equality and human rights; devolved, regional and local issues; and the
relationship between promotion and enforcement. The
Department for Trade and
Industry has published Equality and Diversity: the way ahead alongside
this consultation process. This document details the results of the consultation
from December 2002, and offered stakeholders
an opportunity to comment on the
draft regulations that will implement the EC Race and Employment
Directives. Through implementing these EC Directives (see article 2), the
Government aims to develop effective legislation that will have a
real impact in
removing unfair discrimination.

Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI)

18. The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland (ECNI) is a non-departmental
public body established under the Northern Ireland Act
1998. The Commission
works to eliminate unlawful discrimination, promote equality of opportunity for
all and encourage good practice.
The Commission has been given a wide range of
powers and responsibilities, including advising and assisting complainants,
investigation
and enforcement, awareness raising and review of equality
legislation.

V. DEVOLUTION EXPERIENCE

Northern Ireland

19. In the Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland political
parties affirmed the right of women to full and equal political participation.
Moreover, the Programme for Government in Northern Ireland (PfG) provides
a sound basis to deliver the Government’s actions and commitments that
include the promotion of equality of opportunity,
good community relations, and
the protection of human rights. Following suspension of the devolved
administration in Northern Ireland
on 14 October 2002, which included suspension
of the Assembly the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland appointed two
additional
Junior Ministers to his team at the Northern Ireland Office, to
assist in the work of overseeing the formerly devolved institutions.
The
Government is continuing to implement the PfG previously agreed by the Executive
and the Assembly for the 2002-03 financial year.
It has also published its
priorities and plans for 2003-06 and these build on the progress made by the
Executive across a wide range
of areas including the wider equality agenda.

20. The PfG specifically commits the Office Of the First and Deputy First
Minister to bringing forward and implementing cross-departmental
Gender and Race
strategies during 2003. The Northern Ireland Race Equality Strategy along with
the Response to the Recommendations
of the Promoting Social Inclusion Working
Group Report on Travellers, were launched on 25th February 2003. The
final strategies will be published before the end of 2003. Both will tackle
issues of women, with the Race Strategy
placing specific emphasis on those of
ethnic minority and traveller women.

Single Equality Bill

21. The development and introduction of a Single Equality Bill is
another important element of the Northern Ireland equality agenda. The Programme
for Government attaches a high priority to this
work and the current
administration has signalled that it is committed to building on the progress
already achieved to develop and
harmonise anti-discrimination legislation as far
as practicable (see article 2 for details).

Statutory Duty

22. Under section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998, there is a
requirement on public authorities to promote equality of opportunity across a
number of social categories that include
women. Relevant existing and new
policies are subject to an equality impact assessment, aimed at identifying any
adverse differential
impact on women and men, and consider ways of either
avoiding or mitigating the effect. In addition, public authorities are required
to promote good relations between persons of different religious belief,
political opinion and racial group. The statutory equality
obligations are
implemented through Equality Schemes, approved by the Equality Commission for
Northern Ireland, and by public authorities
carrying out and consulting on
equality impact assessments (EQIAs) of relevant policies. Policies for EQIA are
selected by applying
criteria tests devised by the Equality Commission’s
Guide to the Statutory Duties.

23. See Equality Commission Northern Ireland above.

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission

24. Northern Ireland has a body concentrating on international human rights
standards, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission
(NIHRC). The Commission
was established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, with duties and powers
including individual casework and
providing advice to Government on the
protection of human rights. In line with the Paris Principles, it has several
roles in relation
to the monitoring of the many human rights treaties to which
the UK is party, including CEDAW.

25. Details (including legislation) of Northern Ireland’s experience
for promoting gender equality are specified in the articles
that follow.

Scotland

26. The Equality Unit was set up to co-ordinate the delivery and
implementation of the Equality Strategy and to develop the equality
work of the
Scottish Executive. Its main job is to promote and extend ownership of equality
issues throughout the Executive and to
champion the interests of equality
groups. It is a source of advice and guidance about equality issues. The Unit is
in close touch
with the Scotland Office to ensure views of the Scottish
Ministers are fed into considerations about reserved matters relating to
equal
opportunities.

27. The Scottish Parliament, as a key principle, recognises the need to
promote equal opportunities for all in its operation and its
appointments. This
commitment to equal opportunities underpins the work of the Parliament. Under
the Parliament’s Standing
Orders all legislation proposed by the Executive
must be accompanied by a statement of its impact on equal opportunities. The
Scottish
Parliament set up the Equal Opportunities Committee as one of its
mandatory standing committees. The Committee has undertaken a range
of important
investigations and provides continuous scrutiny of the Executive and
Parliament’s activities on equality. Ministers
and officials have appeared
frequently before the Equal Opportunities Committee to give evidence on equality
matters. Two Cross Party
Groups on major issues affecting women have also been
established. These are:

• Cross Party Group on Women – the purpose of the group is to act
as a policy forum for discussion on policy impacts on
women; to share
information and expertise on women and gender between Members of the Scottish
Parliament (MSPs); to maximise information
and expertise from external sources,
including Equal Opportunity Commission Scotland, and other statutory, public and
voluntary equality
organisations that support the aims of this group; to act as
a forum for networking and support, led by women MSP.

• Cross Party Group on Men’s Violence Against Women and
Children — the purpose of the group is to establish a forum for
debate on the issue of men’s violence against women and children. It is
intended that the remit be broad enough to include the issues of rape, domestic
violence, physical and emotional and sexual abuse.
The work of the group will
focus on prevention, protection and provision.

Mainstreaming Equality in Scotland

28. The Government recognises that mainstreaming equality is a long-term
process. During phase 1 (2000–02) of the Scottish Equality Strategy
the Government concentrated on improving the collection, analysis and
dissemination of data and information disaggregated by sex,
increasing
consultation and dialogue with equality groups, raising awareness on equality
issues and developing the processes to facilitate
gender mainstreaming in policy
and spending plans. The Executive will continue to support the Glasgow
Women’s Library and engender
groups to develop the database of
women’s contacts across Scotland. This will enable information to be
disseminated widely
and provide a basis for consultation with women in future.
Furthermore, the Executive made a £150,000 grant to the Women’s
Fund
for Scotland in 2002-03 to assist organisations in local areas to support
projects that promote the social welfare and capacity
building of women in their
own communities. A range of groups and organisations has been assisted across
Scotland. An additional
£450,000 will be awarded over the next three
years.

Consultation with Women and Women’s Organisations

29. A series of local consultative events were held during 2002. These
combined information on how to input to the Parliament and
to the Executive with
a focus on a topical issue. Consultations with women focused on education (held
with women from ethnic minority
communities), equal pay and employment, rural
women’s issues, and poverty. Another example of the Scottish
Executive’s
work in this area is the collaboration with women’s
organisations (in Fife) during 2001-02 aimed at developing a local consultation
project with local organisations, groups and women to identify their concerns
and priorities.

Women’s Convention

30. Following a review of the existing opportunities for women’s
organisations in Scotland to provide a strategic input into
the work of the
Scottish Executive and Parliament and to network with each other, the Scottish
Executive announced on 10 March 2003
that it would provide funding for the
establishment of a new Women’s Convention to strengthen the structure for
women’s
organisations in Scotland. The Convention will build on the
network of organisations in the Women’s Consultative Forum. The
Convention
will have a steering group comprising a number of key Scottish women’s
organisations. The steering group will establish
a number of working commissions
on key topics of relevance to women and linked to the work of the Executive and
Parliament. These
commissions will draw on the expertise of women across
Scotland in these fields and develop effective liaison with the relevant
Scottish
Executive officials and key institutions. The Executive will continue
to hold events for women’s organisations and is also
supporting a
Delivering for Change Programme For Women, drawing on the specific
recommendations of the Women’s Strategic Group, chaired by
Scotland’s first woman university
principal[3].

31. Details (including legislation) of Scotland’s experience for
promoting gender equality are specified in the articles that
follow.

32. The establishment of the Assembly provided an opportunity to move
equality matters forward due to its statutory obligations to
equality under the
Government of Wales Act 1998. The Welsh Assembly Government set up a
system of consultation that comprises three Partnership Councils for Local
Government and
statutory bodies, Business and Commerce, and the Voluntary
Sector. The Council for the Voluntary Sector includes a representative
on
Gender. Women are in a majority on this Council, as they are principal
representatives for Advice and Advocacy, Animal Welfare,
Voluntary Arts,
Children and Families, Disability, Criminal Justice, Employment, Ethnic
Minorities, Sport and Recreation, Volunteering,
Youth, and Gender. Each Council
member is responsible for setting up a comprehensive network and is funded
regularly to provide and
elicit information and views on their area of
responsibility. This process is monitored and provides real opportunity for
democratic
participation.

33. The Equality Policy Unit is responsible for taking forward statutory
obligations on equality. The Unit provides guidance and advice
on equality
issues to Assembly officials (including building equal opportunities into policy
areas) and supports the work of the
Committee on Equality of Opportunity (see
below). It liaises with internal and external groups to identify specific
initiatives to
take forward, particularly in the areas of gender, race and
disability, and reviews arrangements for consulting with voluntary sector
equality organisations in Wales by developing consultation mechanisms for
channelling the views of their members into the Assembly.
The Unit also
conducted an equality survey to establish baseline information about the extent
to which equality of opportunity is
already taken into consideration. This
provides a basis by which the Assembly is able to monitor and measure its
progress on equality
issues and to report on actions taken and progress made.
Women’s organisations are represented on the Equality Policy Unit
by a
member of the Wales Women’s National Coalition.

Committee on Equality of Opportunity

34. The Committee on Equality of Opportunity’s terms of reference
include the auditing of the Assembly’s arrangements
for promoting the
principle of equality of opportunity, as well as avoiding discrimination against
any person on grounds of race,
sex or disability. The Committee also submits
annual reports to the Assembly on those arrangements and their effectiveness, as
well
as reviewing and reporting to the Assembly its conclusions on the annual
reports, submitted to the Assembly, by public bodies concerned
with the
promotion of equal opportunities. It is currently considering reports into the
Public Appointments Process and Institutional
Racism. The Committee has a strong
interest in seeing that a dialogue with groups representing minority and
disadvantaged interests
takes place at all levels in the Assembly. To facilitate
this, three organisations, the Equal Opportunities Commission, the Commission
for Racial Equality and Disability Wales (the proposed Disability Rights
Commission),attend meetings of the Committee as advisers. The Committee
has conducted two baseline audits to assess to what extent race, gender,
and
disability, are taken into account in current policy (including personnel). The
Committee considers other issues, such as ways
of bridging the pay gap (also see
article 11) and has also looked at issues where lead responsibility lies
elsewhere, but which have
implications for Assembly policies, such as asylum and
immigration issues in Wales. The Committee has an important role in overseeing
the Equality Policy Unit’s operational plan and agreeing its content, and
encourages other organisations in Wales, including
Assembly Sponsored Public
Bodies, to observe equality policies. The Committee intends to scrutinise
equality policies and practices
within selected Assembly Sponsored Public Bodies
and Health Authorities. A working group has been established to advise on a
programme
of action designed to achieve applications for public appointments
that are broadly representative of the Welsh population.

35. A Better Wales, the Assembly’s strategic plan (launched in
May 2000), was developed in consultation with stakeholders and sets out the long
term vision for a better Wales: “a tolerant society in which the needs of
all social groups are addressed and everyone is given
an opportunity to play a
full part”. The promotion of a culture in which diversity is valued and
equality of opportunity is
a reality, is one of three major themes and values at
the heart of the plan. Policies and initiatives that will contribute to
promoting
equality of opportunity include: a childcare strategy to provide care
and development opportunities for children that will, in turn,
enable the
primary carer to return to work if they wish; as well as encouraging
under-represented groups to apply for public appointments.

36. Research[5] carried out in 2002
has concluded, that it is too early to fully assess the overall effectiveness of
the policies introduced by the
Assembly Government in response to its equality
duty. However, the evidence of the Assembly’s first two and a half years
shows
that the statutory equality duty is the most significant factor driving
the new equality agenda in Wales.

37. Details (including legislation, pay gap) of Wales’ experience for
promoting gender equality are specified in the articles
that follow.

ARTICLE 1: ELIMINATION OF DISCRIMINATION

38. The UK Government is fully committed to the elimination of discrimination
against women. The UK endorses the definition of discrimination
against women
under article one of the
Convention[6]. The UK
Government’s provisions to eliminate discrimination against women are
categorised under the articles of the Convention
that follow.

ARTICLE 2: OBLIGATIONS TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION

39. As set out in previous reports, the objectives of the Convention are
given effect in the UK through provisions of national law,
in particular the
Equal Pay Act 1970 and the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, each as
amended, as well as the Employment Act 1989 and Northern Ireland equivalents.
These laws are described in previous reports
on the implementation of the
Convention. The Human Rights Act 1998 gives further effect in domestic
law to the rights and freedoms guaranteed under the European Convention on
Human Rights and provides an opportunity to argue Convention points before a
court in the UK. The Act includes Article 14 of the convention, which
prohibits
discrimination in the enjoyment of the Convention rights. The Act, with limited
exceptions, makes it unlawful for public
authorities to act incompatibly with
the Convention rights. People who believe their Convention rights have been
infringed are able
to argue their case before domestic courts, and to receive an
appropriate remedy where the court finds that a public authority has
acted
unlawfully. The Act also requires all courts and tribunals to read and give
effect to domestic legislation, so far as possible,
compatibly with the
Convention rights. If they cannot, the High Court and above are able to declare
the legislation incompatible
and signal to Parliament that it needs to consider
whether changes are needed. Under the Scotland Act 1988 any provision passed by
the Scottish Parliament is not valid if it is incompatible with the Convention.

40. EU legislation on gender equality is also given effect in the UK through
provisions on national law — see below for details.

Legislation introduced or amended since the last report

Family Law Act 1996-Part IV

41. Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996 (implemented in 1997), which
applies in England and Wales, offers protection to those experiencing domestic
violence in a family
relationship, by making it possible for them to apply for
an injunction to protect them from violence. The court will grant a
non-molestation
order if it considers that on the balance of probabilities an
order should be made for the benefit of the applicant, considering
all the
circumstances. The Act also provides for the court to make an occupation order
that can, in certain circumstances, exclude
the respondent from the family home
or an area around it. Such orders are available from county courts and
magistrates’ courts
with family
jurisdiction[7]. A decision was made
in late 2002, in consultation with the Domestic Violence Advisory Group (DVAG)
of the Department for Constitutional
Affairs (DCA), not to implement section 60
of Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996 for the time being. Research
carried out in 2002 by the University of Leicester, indicated that implementing
section 60 raised a
number of complex issues that require further consideration.
The Advisory Group concluded that the problems identified in the research
would
not be most effectively addressed by the implementation of section 60, but
victims would be better served by improving current
procedures in the criminal
and civil justice jurisdictions rather than implementing new legislation.
Interaction between the court
jurisdictions, effective treatment of breaches of
civil injunctions and other issues is included in the Home Office domestic
violence
consultation paper published in June 2003. A sub-group of the DVAG has
been set up to take this forward. The 1996 Act does not apply
to Scotland, but
similar provisions exist in Scottish law under the matrimonial Homes (Family
Protection) Scotland Act 1981. Proposals to extend the scope of matrimonial
interdict will be considered in the near future in Scotland.

Sex Offenders Act 1997

42. In order to increase the protection given to women and men of all ages
from serious sexual assaults and rape in the UK, Part One
of the Sex Offenders
Act 1997 now requires relevant sex offenders to notify the police when they
intend to travel abroad for eight
days or longer. Furthermore, the Government
ordered a review of Part One of the Sex Offenders Act 1997, and published
proposals for
consultation in 2001. The Sexual Offences Bill currently before
the UK Parliament will strengthen the measures available throughout
the UK.

Northern Ireland Act 1998 — Statutory Duty

43. The policy in regard to promoting equality of opportunity under section
75 of the above Act is a reserved matter but implementation
is devolved to
Northern Ireland Departments. Human Rights and equality were key issues in the
drawing up of the Belfast Agreement.
Under the terms of Section 75 of the
Northern Ireland Act 1998 “a public authority shall in carrying out
its functions relating to Northern Ireland have due regard to the need to
promote
equality of opportunity”. Relevant existing and new policies are
subject to an equality impact assessment that aims to identify
any adverse
differential impact and consider ways of either avoiding or mitigating the
effect. The statutory equality obligations
are implemented through Equality
Schemes, approved by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, and by public
authorities carrying
out and consulting on equality impact assessments (EQIAs)
of relevant policies. Policies for EQIA are selected by applying criteria
tests
devised by the Equality Commission’s “Guide to the Statutory
Duties”.

The Government of Wales Act 1998

44. The Government of Wales Act 1998 set up the National Assembly for
Wales. The Act contains two sections (48 and 120) that deal with equal
opportunities. The first
requires the Assembly to have due regard to equal
opportunities in the conduct of its business. The second requires the Assembly
to make arrangements to exercise its functions in a way that has due regard to
equality of opportunity. It also requires the Assembly
to publish an annual
report showing how effective its arrangements have been in doing so.

Crime and Disorder Act 1998

45. In addition to provisions in the UK-wide Crime and Disorder Act
1998 relating to sex offender orders, the Act contains a provision
permitting a court sentencing an offender for a sexual or violent offence
to
impose an extended period of supervision following their release from prison if
the normal supervision period would not be adequate
for the purpose of
preventing the commission of further offences and securing the offender’s
rehabilitation (in the case of
sex offenders, the normal period of supervision
can be extended by up to ten years).

Access to Justice Act 1999

46. The Act replaced the legal aid scheme with
the Community Legal Service and the Criminal Defence Service. The aim of the
Community
Legal Service is to ensure that women and men have access to legal
services that effectively meet their needs. The Criminal Defence
Service was
established for the purpose of securing that individuals involved in criminal
investigations or criminal proceedings
have access to such advice, assistance
and representation as the interests of justice require. The 1999 Act does not
apply to Scotland,
but the position in Scotland is broadly similar.

Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 (Scotland)

47. In common with the rest of the UK, the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act
1999 introduced the ability for spouses in Scotland to share a pension when
they divorce. It is expected that this will in some cases
improve the ability of
women to build their own pension provision following a divorce.

National Minimum Wage

48. A statutory national minimum wage took effect in the UK from April 1999,
marking an important step towards greater decency and
fairness in the workplace.
It is contributing to a reduction in the pay gap between men and women, as
approximately 70% of its beneficiaries
are female (see article 11 for
information on the pay gap). The minimum wage has been very successful with
around 1.3 million workers
having stood to benefit from the last major uprating
in October 2002 whilst the negative impact on employment, inflation and
competitiveness
has been negligible. The rates and other aspects of the
operation of the minimum wage are based on recommendations from the independent
Low Pay Commission. The main rate for the National Minimum Wage
is currently £4.20 per hour for workers aged 22 or over. The
rate for
workers aged 18 to 21 (inclusive) is £3.60 per hour. The rate does not vary
by region, industry or size of company.
It applies to all workers whether
full-time or part-time, whether permanent, temporary or casual, and to
home-workers. The Low Pay
Commission’s fourth report was published
in March 2003 and recommended increases in the minimum wage rates
over a two-year
period. On 1 October 2003 the main and youth rates will increase
to £4.50 and £3.80 per hour, respectively, from which
1.3-1.6 million
people stand to benefit. The rates from October 2004 will be subject
to further fine-tuning by the Commission nearer
the time but are
presently recommended at £4.85 and £4.10 per hour for the
main and youth rates respectively.

Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000

49. The Standards in Scotland’s Schools etc. Act 2000, puts a
duty on education authorities to prepare and publish an Annual Statement of
Education Improvement Objectives, describing how they will encourage equal
opportunities and in particular observance of equal opportunity requirements in
school
education.

Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000

50. The Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 includes a
provision enabling ‘senior’ courts to pass a new restraining order
on sex offenders at the point of sentencing.
The restraining order is available
in cases where a court is passing a sentence of longer than twelve months
imprisonment on an offender
who has been convicted of an offence listed in the
Sex Offenders Act 1997. A restraining order can be of indefinite duration
or can last for a minimum of five years, and contains prohibitions relating to
the offender’s activities (e.g. prohibiting contact with victims). The
restraining orders apply only in England and Wales.

51. The Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment)
Regulations 2000 ensure that Britain’s six million part-timers —
80% of whom are women — can no longer be treated less favourably
in their
employment terms than comparable full-timers, just because they work part-time.
The regulations mean that part-timers should
receive the same pay, pensions,
maternity and parental leave benefits, training, and holidays as equivalent full
timers working for
the same employer.

Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000

52. Maximum penalties for offences involving indecent photographs and
pseudo-photographs of girls and boys were substantially increased
by the
Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000. The maximum sentence for
simple possession was raised from 6 months imprisonment to 5 years, and the
maximum for making, distribution
and advertising offences was increased from 3
years to 10 years imprisonment. The Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001
increased the powers of arrest for customs officers and the police in respect of
the importation of indecent or obscene material;
this extends to the whole of
the UK. In Scotland the penalties for taking and distributing indecent images of
children and possession
of these images were substantially increased in the
“Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 to 10 years and 5 years
respectively.

Learning and Skills Act 2000

53. The Act established a new non-departmental public body, the Learning and
Skills Council for England (LSC), with responsibilities
for the planning and
funding of post-compulsory learning, other than higher education. The Act
also required the LSC, when exercising
its functions, to have due regard to
the need to promote equality of opportunity between persons of different racial
groups, between
men and women, and between persons who are disabled and persons
who are not. The Act also brought about changes in Wales, by creating
a new
National Council for Education and Training for Wales (CETW) with broadly
similar functions to the LSC in England, but with
some variations to reflect
Welsh circumstances.

54. Revised employment tribunal procedure regulations took effect on 16 July
2001. Changes include making it clear that where there
are a number of claims
arising out of the same set of facts they may be made on a single application
form. This will particularly
assist in jurisdictions like equal pay where there
are often multiple applications arising out of the same set of facts.

55. The EC Burden of Proof Directive 97/80/EC was implemented in the
UK through the Sex Discrimination (Indirect Discrimination and Burden of
Proof) Regulations 2001[8]. The
Directive amends those parts of the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) 1975
that apply generally to employment and vocational training matters as regards
indirect discrimination and to the burden of proof
approaches in tribunals or
county courts in England and Wales, and tribunals and sheriff courts in
Scotland. Northern Ireland has
implemented the Directive separately, but on the
same terms. The regulations ensure that the applicant and respondent involved in
sex discrimination cases establish the facts before a tribunal or court, the
burden of proof then shifts from the applicant to the
employer to show that
there is a non-discriminatory reason for their actions. The second change
clarifies the meaning of the phrase
indirect discrimination to extend coverage
to “practices”. Although these are minor changes and are not
expected to change
current Tribunal rulings significantly, they are helpful to
women.

Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001

56. The Protection from Abuse (Scotland) Act 2001 allows the
attachment of a power of arrest to any interdict obtained for the purpose of
protection from abuse. This is available
to women and men regardless of their
relationship with the potential abuser and considerably widens the protection
hitherto available
under the Matrimonial Homes (Family Protection)(Scotland)
Act 1981. The Scottish Law Commission made recommendations in its report on
Family Law to improve the protection given by the 1981 Act, especially
to
cohabitants and divorcees. The Scottish Executive will include these in any
future Family Law Bill.

Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001

57. Improving access to education and educational achievement by disabled
girls and boys, women and men is an essential element of
the Government’s
policy for ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation in society,
independent living and economic
self-sufficiency for disabled people. The GB
wide Disability Discrimination Act, as amended by the Special
Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 (SENDA) that came into force on 11
May 2001, is a major part of this policy. SENDA will improve the standard of
education for girls
and boys with special educational needs, disabled women and
men within post-16 provision, and advance civil rights for disabled people
in
education. It is anticipated that similar legislation for Northern Ireland for
children and young people with special needs and
disabilities will be introduced
later in 2003.

Sexual Offences (Procedure and Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2002

58. In Scotland the Sexual Offences (Procedure and Evidence)(Scotland) Act
2002 has made changes to the law of evidence and criminal procedure to
improve the protections available to victims of rape and other
sexual offences.
The Act also tightens up the rules governing the admissibility of evidence about
a complainer’s sexual history
or character, and introduces a process
requiring written application to be made, before the trial, for permission to
lead such evidence.
In deciding on the application, the court has to take into
consideration appropriate protection of the complainer’s privacy
and
dignity.

Employment Act 2002

59. The Act increased the standard rate of Statutory Maternity Pay and
Maternity Allowance in Great Britain from £75 to £100.
Over 350,000
mothers each year will benefit from this as well as the increase to the period
of maternity pay to 26 weeks. The Act
also gives 6 months paid (at the same rate
as maternity pay) and a further 6 months unpaid leave for working adoptive
parents. Other
benefits of the Act include the introduction of work-focused
interviews for partners of people receiving working-age benefits to
encourage
them to see work as a realistic option, build upon their skills and potential
and inform them of the support on offer to
find work. For the first time mothers
and fathers of young children, including disabled children, have a right to
apply to work a
flexible working arrangement. Moreover, the Act introduces an
equal pay questionnaire in employment tribunal equal pay cases, with
the aim to
enable individuals to request key information from their employer when they are
deciding whether to bring a case as well
as simplify the tribunal process
benefiting both employers and employees. This could lead to settlement or
resolution in some cases.
DTI In Northern Ireland, legislative provisions
corresponding mainly to Part I of the Employment Act 2002 (Statutory leave and
Pay,
Maternity, paternity and adoption) have been made. Draft provisions
corresponding mainly to Parts II, III and IV of the Act (tribunal
reform,
dispute resolution, equal pay questionnaires) are the subject of public
consultation in 2003.

Sex Discrimination Election Candidates Act 2002

60. Sex Discrimination Election Candidates Act 2002 enables political
parties in the UK, if they wish, to adopt positive measures to reduce inequality
in the numbers of women and men
elected as representatives of their party. It
amends the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and Sex Discrimination
(Northern Ireland) Order 1976 Act. The Act is permissive, not prescriptive,
and it is for political parties to decide what action, if any, they choose to
take in selecting
their candidates for election. There are no quotas and
therefore no sanctions on political parties if they take no positive action
to
redress any gender imbalance. However, during the Act’s passage through
Parliament all main political parties supported
the Act and pledged to work with
their parties to take advantage of the Act’s provisions (for further
details see article 4).

Forthcoming Legislation

EU Employment Directive 2000

61. In December 2000, the EU adopted the Employment Directive
2000/78/EC that established a framework for protection across Europe against
discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, sexual orientation
and
religion and belief. It outlaws discrimination and harassment in the fields of
employment, occupation, vocational guidance and
training and also includes
membership of workers’, employers’ and professional organisations.
The Government’s
plans for implementation are designed to ensure that
requirements are consistent across equality legislation, wherever practicable,
and the new regulations are available to employers and others in good time
before the deadlines agreed with the other Member States.
Member States are
required to implement the sexual orientation and religion or belief provisions
by 2 December 2003. They have until
2 December 2006 to implement the age and
disability provisions. The UK is implementing the strands under Article 2.2 of
the EC Act
and is on course for implementation of the sexual orientation and
religion strands by December 2003, disability by 2004 and age by
2006. In Great
Britain regulations on sexual orientation and religion or belief were approved
by Parliament in June 2003 and will
now come into force in December 2003.
Regulations to amend the Disability Discrimination Act have been approved by
Parliament, and
are expected to come into force in October 2004. A separate,
equivalent consultation ‘Implementing EU Equality Obligations in
Northern Ireland’, on a draft Regulations under Article 2.2 of the EC
act, is taking place in Northern Ireland during 2003. Implementing the
Employment and Race Directives on time is a key concern for the Government. Our
strategy is designed to achieve greater coherence
across equality legislation
where that is practicable.

Review of sexual offences and penalties

62. The Government believes it is necessary that the law on sexual offences
should be clear and coherent so as to protect the citizen,
particularly the more
vulnerable, from abuse and exploitation. It must enable abusers to be brought to
justice. New legislation will
also ensure that the sexual offences are fair and
non-discriminatory; the offences and penalties will have to comply with the
European
Convention on Human Rights. The Government has considered the
recommendations of the public consultation on the existing UK framework
of
sexual offences and penalties and published its report in 2002. Legislation to
amend the existing Sexual Offences framework has
been introduced into
Parliament.

63. The Scottish Executive also undertook to consult further on what changes
to the law might be needed to help vulnerable witnesses
give evidence, and
published a paper entitled Vital Voices — Helping Vulnerable Witnesses
Give Evidence. The consultation period ended on 31 July 2002. The report on
the analysis to the consultation was published in December 2002 and
the Scottish
Executive is now considering whether legislative changes should be made in this
area.

Equal Treatment Amendment Directive 2002/73/EC

64. This Directive became law on 5 October 2002 and EU Member States have
three years to implement it. We anticipate that we will
transpose the
legislative provisions of this Directive into British legislation by regulations
amending the Sex Discrimination Act
1975 (as amended). It is probable that some
of the provisions of the Directive will not require legislation. Where this is
the case,
we will consider the appropriate method to implement
them.The Directive now reflects the changes to European
gender equality law, generated by the modification of the Treaty (Article 141),
incorporates many years of European case law, and takes a similar line where
appropriate to the Employment and Race Directives under
Article 13. Most of the
provisions of the Directive are already reflected in existing GB legislation. As
part of the Article 13 consultation
in GB which was launched in October 2002, we
took the early opportunity to consult on the principles of some of the
legislative changes
flowing from the Directive, particularly those which were in
line with Article 13 provisions. A more detailed consultation on implementing
the amended Equal Treatment Directive will take place at a later date. A
separate consultation took place in Northern Ireland during
the first half of
2003 on Implementing EU Equality Obligations in Northern Ireland with
further consultation (s) later in 2003 for any outstanding issues.

Disability Discrimination Law

65. The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) already provides protection to
disabled women in a wide range of areas including education,
employment,
transport and access to goods, services, facilities and premises.
Regulations to implement the disability provisions
of the Article 13 Employment
Directive will strengthen and widen the DDA’s
employment provisions. The regulations will come
into force in October
2004. The Government will be publishing a draft Disability Bill later in 2003
which will include measures to
further extend rights and duties in the DDA.
Important new rights for disabled women and men, girls and boys will come into
effect
in October 2004, when the Government implements Part III of the DDA.
These rights require that, where reasonable, a service provider
will have to
remove, alter or avoid a physical feature (such as steps) that makes it
impossible or unreasonably difficult for a disabled
customer to access a service
available to the general public. These regulations will also come into force in
October 2004. Equivalent
regulations will come into operation in Northern
Ireland on 1 October 2004 and a Code of Practice will come into operation in
2003.

Northern Ireland — Single Equality Bill

66. The development and introduction of a Single Equality Bill is
another important element of the Northern Ireland equality agenda. A preliminary
consultation exercise to seek views on the scope
and content of the Single
Equality Bill was completed in 2001. The Government announced on 19 November
2002, a new strategic approach to taking forward work on equality legislation.
Regulations covering amendments to existing fair employment, race, disability
and equal pay legislation, and new legislation on sexual
orientation were issued
for consultation in February 2003. These regulations will establish a more
consistent base from which the
Equality Bill can be developed. Preparatory work
for a single Equality Bill will continue. A full and inclusive engagement
process
will be undertaken with the business sector, trade unions, NGOs and the
Equality Commission for Northern Ireland on proposals for
a Bill. Advice will be
sought for a wide range of experts on employment, equality and discrimination
issues. The proposals are due
to be published for public consultation in Autumn
2003.

67. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) is the primary piece
of anti-discrimination legislation in the UK to protect disabled people and is
described in the previous
report. As part of its efforts to analyse and evaluate
recent policies, the Government set up a Disability Rights Task Force on
implementing
comprehensive civil rights for disabled people. As a follow-up to
the Task Force’s recommendations, the Government published
Towards
Inclusion, in March 2001, aimed at improving and strengthening rights for
all disabled people. The following provisions will be in place by
October 2004:
(i) end the exemption of small employers (i. e. with fewer than 15 employees)
from the scope of the DDA in 2004; (ii)
widen the scope of the DDA (e.g. police
force, fire fighters, prison officers, barristers in chambers (and advocates in
Scotland),
partners in business partnerships and employees on ships, planes and
hovercrafts). In addition, Towards Inclusion proposes to extend Part III
of the DDA to functions of public bodies that are not currently covered, because
they are not “services”
within the Act’s definition; and to
introduce a new duty on public bodies to promote equality of opportunity for
disabled people.
These provisions will also be introduced in Northern Ireland
with the exception of the new duty on public bodies to promote equality
of
opportunity for disabled people that already exists there.

Disability Rights Commission

68. The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) was established by the DRC Act in
1999, based on the recommendations of the Disability
Rights Task Force. The
Commission, started operating in April 2000, with the aim to eliminate
discrimination against, and promote
equal opportunities for disabled people. It
encourages good practice in the treatment of disabled people and advises the
Government
on the working of the DDA and the DRC Act. The Commission prepares
Codes of Practice, and is able to undertake formal investigations
and research.
The DRC’s revised Code of Practice and practical guidance for service
providers, offering guidance on new duties
under Part III of the DDA to be
introduced in 2004, was published on 26 February 2002. For more information on
Government action
to strengthen the rights of disabled women and men,
facilitating their access to services and entry into the labour market see
section
3 of the annex. For information on Government action on employment
opportunities for disabled people see article 11.

69. Section 73 of the Northern Ireland Act created a single Equality
Commission. The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland has
responsibilities
across a wide range of equality issues in Northern Ireland and is thus in a
unique position to consider the needs
of people with disabilities as well as any
more specific issues surrounding the needs of women with disabilities (see
institutions
promoting the advancement of women and gender equality). Under the
terms of Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act ‘a public
authority shall
in carrying out its functions relating to Northern Ireland have due regard to
the need to promote equality of opportunity’.
This includes equality
between persons with a disability and persons without.

Sexual orientation and civil partnerships

70. The Government recognises the discrimination that many gay, lesbian,
transexual and bisexual people face in today’s society.
The Government is
committed to a just and fair society and have already made progress in a number
of areas relating to sexual orientation.
Government achievements include:

• Criminal Injuries Compensation. The inequality of the Criminal
Injuries Compensation Scheme was highlighted in the Soho bombing in April 1999
when it became clear
that eligibility was denied same-sex partners. The Home
office revised the scheme to include lesbian and gay partners in April 2001.

• Immigration rules. Immigration rules have been changed to
allow people in long term relationships who are unable to marry, including same
sex couples,
the right to remain with a person present and settled in the UK.

• Extended overseas allowances. The FCO has recently extended
overseas allowances to married and unmarried couples, including same sex
partners.

• Spearheaded social initiatives. The Don’t Suffer in
Silence initiative, launched in December 2000 and available from Department
for Education and Schools publications, offers practical help
to tackle all
kinds of bullying amongst pupils in schools, including homophobic bullying. The
Foreign and Commonwealth Office have
launched the Know Before You Go
campaign, which gives information to British lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transsexual (LGBT) travellers abroad. TheCrown Prosecution
Service has recently launched a policy statement for prosecuting Cases with
homophobic elements. The statement makes it clear that homophobic
behaviour
will, where appropriate, be prosecuted effectively through the Criminal Courts.

71. Government’s current initiatives in this area include:

• Civil Partnership Registration. Civil Partnership Registration
schemes give same sex couples the opportunity to register their relationship,
and thereby obtain a
package of rights and responsibilities. In 2001, the
Government announced that it would examine the policy and cost implications
of
Civil Partnership Registration. As part of this work, the Government issued a
consultation paper in June 2003.

• Adoption. The Government’s objective is to increase the
number of vulnerable children who have the opportunity, through adoption, to
grow
up as part of a loving, stable and permanent family. When the Adoption
and Children Act 2002, which received royal assent 7th November, is
implemented in 2004, same sex couples will be able to apply to adopt a child
jointly.

• Paternity leave. From April 2003 a new right to two weeks paid
paternity leave will be fully introduced following the provisions in the
Employment
Act 2002. This will be available to a parent who has responsibility
for the upbringing of the child, including a mother’s or
adopter’s
same sex partner.

• Flexible working practices. In April 2003 a new right for
parents of young children to request a flexible working pattern was introduced.
Same sex partners of
a biological parent are also able to request to work
flexibly if they have responsibility for the upbringing of the child.

• Registration of death. The white paper Civil Registration
– Vital Change recommends that the right to register deaths be
extended to ‘life partners’. The Government recognises that existing
rules
cause distress to partners at a very upsetting time.

• New anti-discrimination law. New anti-discrimination law will
tackle discrimination in employment and training on the grounds of sexual
orientation and religion
(by December 2003) and age (by December 2006) as
mentioned above. The Government is currently consulting on draft regulations for
sexual orientation and religion.

• Sexual Offences. The Government believes that criminal law
should not discriminate unnecessarily between men and women, or between those of
different
sexual orientation. The Sexual Offences Bill, introduced in to the
House of Lords on 28 January 2003, proposes changes that will
reflect this
position.

• Section 28[9]. The
Government believes that section 28 is an unnecessary piece of legislation,
which offends many people by stigmatising the lifestyles
of gay and lesbian
people. Section 28 does not affect what can be taught in schools. The Department
for Education and Skills’
Sex and Relationship Guidance makes it
clear that teachers should be able to deal honestly and sensitively with sexual
orientation, answer appropriate questions
and offer support, but that there
should be no direct promotion of sexual orientation. It also emphasises that
schools need to be
able to deal with homophobic bullying. This is a matter for
governors and teachers, not local authorities. The Government therefore
supports
the amendment to the Local Government Bill, laid in Parliament on 7 January
2002, which suggests a repeal of section 28.
The Government hopes that this
repeal will be widely supported.

Implementation of the law

Employment Tribunals (ET)

72. Many equal pay and sex discrimination disputes are settled without the
need for a tribunal hearing because of the assistance of
the Advisory,
Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) which has the general duty of
promoting the improvement of industrial relations
as described in the previous
report. The EOC also gives advice about the law to both individuals and their
employers. Trades unions
often assist people to bring claims and TU actions can
create significant fluctuations in the number of cases. Not all discrimination
cases are brought by women; a 1998 survey of Employment Tribunal applications
found that 28% of discrimination cases, based on gender
and race, were brought
by men. In considering the number of cases, note a) the numbers concluded each
year differ from the number
of applications, as most cases take some time to
conclude b) we have analysed the cases where sex discrimination or equal pay was
the main complaint but they were a subsidiary complaint in many other claims,
e.g. unfair dismissal or breach of contract, c) cases
are rising overall –
80,435 were brought in 1997-98 and 112,227 in 2001-02.

73. Sex Discrimination Claims: There has been a significant increase in the
total number of cases brought under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 since
1998 – from 6,203 in 1998-99 to 10,092 in 2001-02. However, in overall
terms sex discrimination cases against the total
of all cases lodged have
remained in the 9%-13% range. In 2001-02, the Employment Tribunals concluded
11,161 sex discrimination complaints.
This compares with 4,390 for the year
2000-01. Sex discrimination claims were 6.7% of the total in 1998-99, rising to
13.2% in 2000-01;
and falling to 9.0% in 2001-2.This surge was due to an
exceptional number of claims by part timers for historic pension rights, in
anticipation of a Lords ruling.
See tables 2.1-2.4 in annex 2 (article 2, p.
2).

74. Equal Pay claims: Cases brought under the Equal Pay Act1970
have also risen from 1,845 in 1997-98 to 6,856 in 2000-01 then falling to
5314 in 2001-02. Although the latest figure is nearly three
times higher than
the 97-98 figure, they remain at about 5% of total cases brought. In 2001-02,
the Employment Tribunals concluded
2,252 equal pay complaints. This compares
with 1,288 for 2000-01. It is worth noting the number of cases where equal pay
was a subsidiary
complaint – 10,567 in 2000-01 and 3,448 in 2001-02.

Women offenders

75. Although there has been a rise in the female prison population over
recent years, women still make up only a very small proportion
of the overall
offender population (around 6%). The Government is intensifying its efforts to
understand the causes of this apparent
increase as well as strengthening the
rehabilitation and educational programmes targeting women prisoners, including
young women
offenders. In this context, the Government has published a
Strategy for Women Offenders for consultation in 2000, followed by a
report on the responses in September 2001. The issues identified by the report
are feeding
into the development of the Women’s Offending Reduction
Programme (WORP). The Government recognises that it is often a combination
of factors that lead women to offend and, for this reason, the WORP
adopts a
holistic approach to examining such factors (housing, mental health, substance
abuse, childcare problems, employment, abuse
histories, etc.). The aim of the
programme is to strengthen links and joint working between Government
departments and agencies dealing
with these issues so that they develop
integrated policies, programmes and spending partnerships. Another key aim of
the programme
is to ensure the needs and interests of women offenders are
incorporated into all mainstream criminal justice policies. The
Programme’s
plan of action, formally launched in 2002, provides the
framework needed to build on the substantial work already underway within
Government and non-governmental agencies to reduce women’s offending. It
will also enhance the growing recognition across the
Criminal Justice System
that there needs to be a distinct response to the particular needs of women.

76. The Women’s Policy Team (set up within the Home Office in 2001)
manages the WORP with the aim to develop proposals to reduce
the number of women
in custody. The Women’s Offending Reduction Programme focuses in
particular on improving access to, and provision of, interventions that better
meet the needs of women offenders. It highlights
the impact and consequences of
women’s offending, and the differences with male offenders, to encourage
specific provision
for the needs and characteristics of women, especially within
the community. The intention is to improve confidence in, and use of,
community
interventions for women offenders and to ensure that prison is only used as a
last resort for women who really need to
be there.

77. The Government wants to ensure that prison is only used for serious,
violent and persistent offenders, where custody is necessary
for the protection
of the public. New sentencing powers are being introduced, in the Criminal
Justice Bill 2002-03, that include a new generic community sentence. This
will provide sentencers with a more straightforward and flexible community
sanction.
The sentencing powers will not extend to Scotland. A Communications
Strategy will also promote the message that custody should be a sentence of
last resort and not for offenders who have committed minor offences
and who do
not present a risk. The Strategy will also raise awareness of the interventions,
programmes, facilities and support that
are available in the community and
encourage greater use to be made of them. The number of women sent to prison for
fine default
has declined substantially in recent years, from 1,370 in 1995 to
370 in 1997, 150 in 2000 and 70 in 2001.

78. On average women offenders are held 68 miles (109 kilometres) from their
home areas. To ensure that distances and journey times
do not increase, the
Prison Service has re-roled male prison facilities at seven prisons. With the
incorporation of these smaller
establishments into the female estate, and with
new female accommodation coming on stream at two new prisons (which will open in
2004-05), the Prison Service will ensure that current average distances and
journey times for the female population will be maintained.

79. As part of the Government’s efforts to reduce criminality among
women, in June 2001, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons published
a follow-up to the
1997 Women in Prison Review (described in the previous report). Moreover,
research to identify the factors leading to young women and girls offending
(What works) is being conducted. Specifically, the aim is to identify the
characteristics and needs of girls and young women, in order to tailor
programmes that will meet those needs, and reduce the numbers entering or
re-entering the Criminal Justice System. An important development
during the
reporting period, is the Women’s Estate Policy Unit, set up to develop
gender-responsive regimes and policy. The
Government recognises that
consideration needs to be given to the differential impact that sentences can
have on women and men. In
order to promote adequate educational and
rehabilitation programmes that take into account women’s needs and
experiences, the
Women’s Policy Team is aiming to achieve equal outcomes
for women and men offenders in terms of rehabilitation and custodial
sentences.
For more details on the Government’s efforts in this area see annex 1
(article 2, pp. 2-3) on women offenders —
gender-responsive educational
and rehabilitative programmes).

80. At the end of June 2001, minority ethnic
groups made up 26% of the female prison population, compared to 20% of the male
prison
population. In the previous two years, the proportion of female prisoners
from minority ethnic groups was 25% (and 19% for men).
The Women’s
Offending Reduction Programme includes a specific requirement to consider
the particular needs and characteristics of women from minority ethnic groups,
in order
to ensure that any interventions, programmes or facilities for women
account for differences between the needs of women from different
ethnic groups.
This also means that if a programme or intervention is being developed for women
in a particular location, the ethnic
composition of that area is taken into
account to make sure that the initiative is tailored towards the needs of the
women who are
likely to use it. For information on women prisoners who are
foreign nationals see annex 1 (article 2, pp. 2-3).

81. A multi-agency Group within the Scottish Executive was established in
December 2000, to build on the work done by an Inter-Agency
Forum and implement
a package of measures designed to reduce significantly the number of women held
in custody in Scotland. The Group
published its report A Better Way: The
Report of the Ministerial Group on Women’s Offending in February
2002.

Young offenders

82. As part of its efforts to introduce alternative custodial strategies for
young offenders, the Government, under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998,
has introduced a new custodial sentence, the Detention and Training
Order, for young people under the age of 18. Half the sentence is served in
custody and the remainder under supervision in the community.
The Act also set
up the Youth Justice Board (YJB), responsible for monitoring the operation of
the youth justice system and providing
secure accommodation for offenders under
the age of 18. The YJB and the Prison Service are now in partnership and a
business agreement
between them sets aside prison accommodation for juveniles.
It should be noted that within the women’s estates, special units
for
girls aged 15 to 17 years have been set up at four prisons. Special regimes
designed by the Prison Service and the YJB are provided
in those units to meet
young women offenders’ needs, using additional money provided by the YJB
and targeted resources to ensure
that prisoners have access to the same range
and quality of education and training as delivered to male juvenile offenders.
This
will include the new national specification for Learning and Skills for
young people serving Detention and Training Orders commissioned
by the Youth
Justice Board published in 2002.

83. Juvenile girls aged between 15-17 are held within some adult prisons, but
are accommodated separately from adults and are provided
with a regime dedicated
to their particular needs. The Youth Justice Board has overall responsibility
for juvenile prisoners in England
and Wales and the regime provided by the
Prison Service is agreed with them under an annual Service Level Agreement.
There were 139
juvenile girls in Prison Service establishments on 13 January
2003. The Government plans to remove juvenile girls from detention
in Prison
Service accommodation as soon as secure places in the community can be provided.

84. In Northern Ireland, female prisoners including young female offenders
are held in a separate house within Maghaberry prison.
Although young females
are accommodated on a separate landing they share facilities such as education
and visits. When the numbers
are only 1 or 2, young females are also permitted
to associate with adults in order that they are not unduly denied the company of
others. The average number of young females in 2002 ranged between 3-5
offenders. An Estate Review is considering the future location
of the female
prisoners and young offenders with the intention of perhaps providing
alternative accommodation at the male Young Offenders
Centre. However, the full
detail of this proposal has yet to be worked through including the level of
regime for female young offenders.
The main issue of low numbers will continue
to be a problem.

Mother and Baby Units

85. There are Units at four prisons providing a total of 68 places, with 10
additional places at two other prisons to open in September
2003. There are also
plans to create Mother and Baby Units at the two new privately managed
contracted out prisons at Ashford and
Peterborough, which are scheduled to open
in 2004. The management of Mother and Baby Units is currently being reviewed in
the light
of the Framework for the Assessment for Children in Need and their
Families (published by the Department of Health in 2000), the recent
Judicial Reviews on mothers with their children in prison and the Department
for
Education and Skill’s publications on national standards for
crèches and full day care for children (published in
2001).

Gender-responsive educational and rehabilitative programmes

86. In its efforts to reduce the number of women offenders, the Government
has made progress in the development and implementation
of rehabilitation and
educational programmes that are gender-responsive. In this context, the
Government is working to improve educational
and rehabilitation programmes that
are gender-responsive as well as seeking alternative sentencing and custodial
strategies for young
female and girls offenders. See annex 1 (article 2, pp.
2-3) for details of offending behaviour programmes that address the needs
of
women offenders; resettlement strategies for women prisoners; training and
education for women prisoners.

ARTICLE 3: THE DEVELOPMENT AND ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN

Measures taken to alleviate women’s poverty

87. The Government recognises that although the position of women in the UK
has improved dramatically over the last few decades they
are more likely than
men to be in low-income groups, have lower employment rates than men, and are
less likely to be contributing
to a second pension. The Government has
undertaken research to alleviate poverty among women and men, girls and boys.
These disadvantages
partly stem from women accounting for the majority of both
lone parents and single pensioners. Moreover, recent research showed that
household type and marital status were more important determinants of low income
in later life for women than for men. There are
a number of factors behind this
phenomenon. For example, nine out of ten lone parents are women; they are less
likely to have qualifications
than partnered women, more likely to report a
long-standing illness or disability and more likely to have a child below school
age.

88. The Government is determined to tackle poverty, from childhood through to
old age, by tackling the causes of poverty and social
exclusion, not just the
symptoms (see section on the situation of older women below). These causes are
complex and multi-dimensional
and can only be addressed by joined up action
across Government and beyond. The Government publishes an annual report on
poverty,
Opportunity for all, (the first was published in September 1999)
setting out its strategy, along with the measures against which the Government
will
be judged. The latest report Opportunity for all — fourth annual
report was published in September 2002 and shows that the Government is
making real progress towards eradicating poverty and its causes.
The
Government’s strategy includes tackling inequalities by improving public
services; constantly improving understanding of
poverty and social exclusion, to
identify what are the greatest priorities and what will work best to tackle
them; tackling current
and future poverty including supporting those unable to
work; investing in services for girls and boys to break cycles of deprivation;
and working in partnership with other stakeholders.

Policy Measures

89. The Government has adopted a range of policy responses to alleviate
women’s poverty. These measures are described in detail
throughout the
report (in particular, see articles 10, 11, 12, 13, 15 and 16). Some examples
include, the National Minimum Wage(NMW) (see articles 2 and 11
for details). Around 1.3 million workers stood to benefit from higher pay as a
result of the last major
uprating in October 2002 of the NMW and around 70% of
the beneficiaries are women. However, the NMW has to be seen as one part of
a
wider strategy. From October 2002 the NMW in conjunction with the Working
Families’ Tax Credit and other benefits provides a guaranteed minimum
income of at least £231 a week (over £12,000 a year) for families with
children with someone working 35 hours a week (see article 13 for details).
Around 343,700 lone parents have joined the New Deal for Lone Parents and
more than 1 in 3 participants (172,460) have found work (see article 11 for
details). Pension Credit is particularly beneficial to women because
they tend to have smaller pensions than men do. Of the pensioner households that
stand
to gain just over half will be single women, around 30% will be men and
women in a couple, and around 15% will be single men (see
article 13 for
details).

90. In ensuring that childcare does not prove to be an on-going barrier to
women entering the labour market, the Government is continuing
to develop the
National Childcare Strategy (see article 11 for details). There has been
a substantial expansion in childcare provision: since 1997, 497,000 new
childcare places
have been created, benefiting over 906,000 children and the
Government is well on track to meet the target of creating new places
for 1.6
million children by 2004. Annual childcare funding will more than treble between
2000-01 and 2003-04 and much of this increased
funding will be targeted on the
20% most disadvantaged areas. With a budget of £300 million over three
years to 2004, the Neighbourhood
Nursery programme is the biggest ever single
investment to increase childcare provision. The cost of childcare can be a
significant
factor in parents’ employment decisions. The childcare tax
credit component of the Working Families’ Tax Credit provides
financial assistance to low- and middle-income working parents to pay
for
childcare. Parents can receive help with up to 70% of their eligible childcare
costs. Recent figures show that 160,000 families
are receiving the childcare tax
credit component – a dramatic increase from the 47,000 who had help with
childcare costs under
the preceding Family Credit scheme. The 2002 Spending
Review confirmed the Government’s intention to continue to expand and
improve childcare provision. The Spending Review saw a doubling of spending on
childcare. The extra funding will support the expansion
of childcare places
across the country and, in particular, the provision of integrated early
education childcare and family services
in a network of children’s centres
in disadvantaged areas. As part of this strategy, it will develop a thriving
supply of childcare;
provide financial help to lower- and middle-income parents
for whom the cost of childcare is a barrier to work; and transform the
way
services are delivered to ensure that they better meet the needs of children and
their parents, particularly for the most vulnerable.

91. Eradicating poverty is not just about providing income, or supporting
people into jobs. Other forms of Government intervention
can help break cycles
of deprivation in the early years, including education and Early Years
Investment: the 2000 Spending Review allocated resources that will result in
average real growth in education spending of some 6.6 per cent
a year across the
UK over the four years from 1999 — 2000 to 2003 – 04 (see article 10
for details). Sure Start programmes are helping to strengthen families
and local communities with a range of support services for children living in
deprived
areas. The Government is funding a major expansion in free Early
Education. All 4 year olds have been guaranteed a free early education
place
since 1998, with an increasing number of 3 year olds now enjoying free provision
through a £1.13 billion programme that
began in 1999. By September 2004,
all 3 year olds will enjoy this entitlement. Overall funding of early education
for 3 and 4 year
olds will double from £1 billion in 1996-97 to £2
billion in 2003-04. The Connexions Service will, through both a universal
and targeted approach, provide all teenagers with the information, guidance,
personal development
opportunities and work-related learning they need for a
successful transition to adulthood. It will particularly help those at risk
of
social exclusion or of being marginalized. By the end of 2002-03 the Government
will be investing £420 million in the Service
across England. The Service
will extend throughout England by 2003 (see article 10 for details).

The situation of older women

92. The Government is determined to ensure that all women and men enjoy
secure, active, independent and fulfilling lives. The Government
is addressing
the situation of older women in a cross-sectoral manner, with a view to ensuring
adequate provision of their physical,
mental, economic and social well-being,
that takes into account the demographic change in the UK. In this context, a
Cabinet Sub-committee
on Older People, consisting of senior Ministers from key
Government Departments, has been set up to co-ordinate and drive forward
our
action for older women and men. The Government has introduced a range of
policies that directly benefit older women. These policies
are described
throughout the report, examples include:

• State Second Pension that extends second-tier pension rights
for people without earnings, including carers -almost all of the 2 million
carers who will
benefit are women;

• Stakeholder Pension — flexible pension products designed
with the employment patterns of women in mind. Stakeholder pensions have
restricted charges
capped at 1% of the fund and there are no penalties for
breaks in contributions and for switching providers. Research shows that
40% of
stakeholder pensions have been taken up by women;

• Pension Credit will potentially benefit just under half of all
pensioners, from October 2003. Over half of those entitled will be single women;

• Equalising pension age to 65 will help women as they will have
longer time in which to build their pensions;

• Pension Sharing on Divorce was introduced in December 2000.
Legislation enabled couples to share the value of their pensions on divorce or
nullity of their
marriage – beneficiaries are more likely to be women;

• Start point of National Insurance (NI) contributions was
separated from the Low Earning Limit for Employees. This has brought more people
into the NI system, and has
benefited 500,000 women, without requiring low
earners to pay contributions. They do not need to pay contributions until they
earn
£89 per week, whereas entitlement to benefits starts at earnings of
£75 a week.

93. The Government is committed to improving pensions information for women
and men and will promote informed choice such as individualised
pension
forecasting – these measures are particularly important for women. In
order to inform women about the rules of State
and Private pensions and changing
circumstances over the working life, the Government has produced a leaflet
Pensions for women – Your Guide and a media campaign about pension
provision. The Government intends to look at many different ways that will alert
women to consider
their future income in retirement and inform them of their
options.

94. See article 10 for details on Government action to encourage older women
into continuing education as a means to alleviate poverty.
Also see article 12
for details on Government measures addressing the physical and mental well-being
of older women. More details
on social and economic benefits for older women are
detailed in article 13.

Minority ethnic women

95. The Government is seeking to address the issues affecting minority ethnic
women. Government actions in this area are described
throughout the report (see
articles 7, 10, 11, 12, 16 and previous report). The Women and Equality Unit is
seeking to ensure that
in its activities and research the issues affecting women
from ethnic minorities are taken into account and that these are integrated
into
the Unit’s work programmes. Some examples include:

Ministerial activities

96. Patricia Hewitt, Minister for Women, co-hosted with the Prime Minister a
discussion group for Asian women. This provided the opportunity for Asian
women to question the Prime Minister and Ministers for Women about how
Government policy
affects their lives. Ministers for Women hosted a reception at
Lancaster House as part of Black History Monthto celebrate the
achievements and contribution that black women have made to British Society in
areas such as the economy, politics,
law, medicine, arts, community activities
and public services. In November 2002, the then Minister for Women, Barbara
Roche, spoke
at the TUC Black Women at Workconference on the
issue of minority ethnic women and their participation in the labour market.
Barbara Roche participated in the African
Caribbean Finance Forum (ACFF) annual
careers fair diversity debate on Diversity in the Workforce. Patricia
Hewitt, Minister for Women hosts a meeting every 6 months for Women Living in
Muslim Communities to discuss issues specifically affecting them and their
communities. These include Labour Market participation, religious discrimination
and participation in public life. Ministers for Women have also acted to
increase the number of minority ethnic women holding public
appointments. At 12
seminars across England minority ethnic women were invited to participate and
speak. In October 2002, the Government
held a specific public appointment
seminar in Leicester targeting minority ethnic women to encourage them to apply
for more public
appointments. The Government is following these women as part of
the evaluation research for the whole programme to identify and
tackle potential
barriers to public appointments.

Research

97. In October 2002 the WEU in partnership with Joseph Rowntree Foundation
(JRF) launched research on Black Women’s Organisations. The WEU was
represented on the JRF research advisory group for this project. Senior
officials from the Women and Equality Unit gave
a presentation at the Bristol
University Conference on Black and South Asian Women in the Labour Market
on the work of the Women and Equality Unit and how it relates to minority ethnic
women.

98. The Women and Equality Unit also have a number of research projectsunderway that will integrate data on minority ethnic women’s
experiences: Public Appointments research, Domestic Violence research
and
Mainstreaming Equality into research. The Women and Equality Unit produces a
regular fact sheet on the position of minority ethnic
women in the Labour
Marketproviding analyses of Labour Force Survey data. The Women and
Equality Unit Key Indicators research (2002) on the position of women in
the UK brings together for the first time official statistics by gender, age and
ethnicity (where
data allows for this).

International Development

99. The elimination of gender discrimination is a key component of the
Government’s international development policy. During
the reporting
period, the Department for International Development (DfID) published a gender
strategy paper, Poverty elimination and the empowerment of women
(September, 2000) that recognises the empowerment of women is an essential
precondition for the elimination of world poverty and
the upholding of human
rights. In December 2000, the second Government White Paper on International
Development was published, focusing on how to manage the process of
globalisation to benefit poor people, a disproportionate number of whom are
women. The White Paper states that the Government will “work with others
to manage globalisation so that poverty is systematically
reduced and the
International Development Targets(now the Development Millennium
Goals) achieved and to build a stronger, more open and accountable international
system, in which
poor people and countries have a more effective
voice”.

100. The focus on poverty elimination, and by extension on elimination of
gender discrimination, was consolidated in law by a new
International
Development Act that came into force in June 2002. Implementation of this policy
is based on a “twin track”
approach that combines specific
activities aimed at empowering women, with a commitment to place gender equality
concerns into the
mainstream of development programmes. DfID spending across all
sectors, on activities that include the promotion of gender equality
and the
removal of gender discrimination, has increased significantly in recent years.
During 2001-02, from a total bilateral commitment
of £1,425 million, some
£230 million of activities had gender equality as either the main goal or
significant objective.
This level of commitment is expected to continue. DfID is
currently supporting more than 500 projects and programmes worldwide aimed
at
promoting gender equality.

101. During the reporting period, DfID has worked to make resources and
opportunities for economic and human development more readily
available to
women, particularly those who are poor. Key approaches include facilitating
women’s access to markets and employment
opportunities, making credit more
readily available to poor women, and ensuring that infrastructure improvements
benefit women as
well as men. The Government has also contributed to the gender
aware design of economic management, and human and social development
programmes. Examples include through the Poverty Reduction Strategy Process in
support of HIPC debt relief and other national poverty
reduction strategies,
support to human rights programmes, and the growth of a socially responsible
private sector.

102. Recognising that the effects on women of globalisation and the
liberalisation of world trade have shown both benefits and costs,
the Government
is working to identify policy instruments to improve opportunities for the poor
and to reduce the negative effects
on the most vulnerable. As well as supporting
initiatives on ethical trade and socially responsible business, DfID is
promoting core
labour standards, which will protect women and other workers from
exploitation, including through several programmes with the International
Labour
Organisation. Support is also provided to innovative programmes aimed at
developing a more central role for women in conflict
prevention and post
conflict reconstruction. Moreover, recognising women’s disadvantages in
education and health, DfID expenditure
in these areas is expected to continue to
rise substantially.

103. Other significant DfID initiatives that have achieved results since
1999, include:

• New approaches that emphasise links to social benefits and
women’s needs, are being developed with DfID support. The
department is
also promoting participatory planning and assessment methods in road improvement
programmes in Uganda and Ghana, and
supporting a fifteen-country research
programme in Africa and Asia, aimed at developing more gender-sensitive
approaches to travel
and transport programmes.

• Supporting the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, and other
credit providers around the world, the UK Government is making
small-scale
credit available to millions of poor women.

• DfID is helping the government of The Gambia to incorporate gender
concerns into the planning and implementation of their
public services.
Assistance is being provided as part of wider DFID support to the
Gambian’s Strategy for Poverty Alleviation
and is channeled through their
Co-ordinating Office and the Women’s Bureau. Promoting a holistic and
integrated approach, these
units are working directly with key departments
– such as health and education – to ensure that improved services
bring
real and lasting benefits to those who need them most.

• Support to basic health care, awareness raising on sexually
transmitted diseases, and the promotion of behaviour change has
helped female
sex workers in West Bengal, India, reduce infection rates to 5%, compared with
70% among similar groups in other parts
of the country.

• Support for research to develop a microbicide that provides an
alternative form of protection from HIV/AIDS infection for
women.

• Development of new effective approaches to reducing maternal
mortality in Malawi and Nepal, and support international efforts
to raise
awareness of maternal mortality as a human rights issue.

• Support to primary education in India has helped bring about an
increase in enrolment of 6.5 percent over a two-year period.
The enrolment of
girls generally has grown by 7.5%, and among disadvantaged girls from scheduled
castes and scheduled tribes by 12.4%
and 9.6%, respectively.

• Support for a growing portfolio of work aimed at stopping violence
against women, including work with the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees to
protect women in refugee camps.

104. More than half of the UK aid budget is spent through multilateral
channels, including the European Commission, the United Nations,
the World Bank
and regional development banks. UK collaboration with the UN bodies is
continuing to strengthen and expand, especially
in support of the advancement of
women and gender equality. Examples include increasing significantly the
Government’s financial
support to the United Nations Development Fund for
Women (UNIFEM) and funding to the Division for the Advancement of Women of the
UN Secretariat for expert group meetings in support of inter-governmental
processes. DfID has also supported gender mainstreaming
efforts within the
International Labour Organisation’s child labour programmes as well as the
development of rights-based methodologies
in programming by the United Nations
Development Fund for Children (UNICEF). DfID is also helping the World Health
Organisation and
the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices to develop
policy, guidelines, and training programmes for health workers to
tackle
practices prejudicial to the health of young girls, including female genital
mutilation.

105. The UK continues to play a full role in gender-related and other work of
the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the Organisation
for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD), which is one of the main forums for donor
co-ordination. As a follow-up to earlier
work with DAC, DfID contributed to the
preparation of a DAC good practice guide on incorporating gender concerns
into sector-wide approaches to development co-operation. DfID has strongly
supported the programme of action for mainstreaming gender equality in
development policy launched by the European
Commission in autumn 2001. A
close and active dialogue on the gender aspects of development is also being
maintained with the World
Bank.

ARTICLE 4: ACCELERATION OF EQUALITY BETWEEN
WOMEN AND MEN

Elections

106. The Government is committed to encouraging the equal representation of
women and men democratic representatives. The Government
has successfully
introduced into Parliament a bill to allow political parties to take positive
action to redress the under representation
of women in UK democratic
institutions. Sex Discrimination Election Candidates Act 2002 enables
political parties, if they wish, to adopt positive measures to reduce inequality
in the numbers of men and women elected
as representatives of their party. It
amends the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and Sex Discrimination
(Northern Ireland) Order 1976 Act. The Act is permissive, not prescriptive,
and it is for political parties to decide what action, if any, they choose to
take in selecting
their candidates for election. There are no quotas and
therefore no sanctions on political parties if they take no positive action
to
redress any gender imbalance. However, during the Act’s passage through
Parliament all main political parties supported
the Act and pledged to work with
their parties to take advantage of the Act’s provisions.

107. The first elections where positive measures will be used are,
effectively, the elections to the devolved administrations and
certain local
government elections in May 2003. The Act has a ‘sunset’ clause and
consequently it will cease to be law
at the end of 2015. The Government will
continue to assess the Act’s effectiveness, and decide by 2015 whether its
provisions
should be extended beyond that date. Elections to devolved
administrations in Scotland and Wales in 1999 and to the Greater London
Authority, where positive measures were used by some political parties, resulted
in a comparatively high level of female representation
(37.2%, 41.7% and 40%
respectively).

ARTICLE 5: SEX ROLES AND STEREOTYPING

Sex Roles and Stereotyping

108. The Government is committed to making use of the full range of means at
its disposal to remove any barriers to equality of opportunity
and to enable
women to reach their full potential. In this context, the Government is working
to provide good quality, broadly based
education and offer good advice on
education and career choices breaking down sex stereotypes, in order to reduce
job segregation,
the skills and pay gaps, as well as fulfilling the potential
talent.

Education

109. The Government replaced Advanced GNVQs (General National Vocational
Qualifications) with Vocational A levels (exams taken at
the age of 18). The
latter are not gender-specific and promotional literature aimed at prospective
students avoids gender-bias. Moreover,
young people are given advice and
guidance on the full range of opportunities, breaking down sex stereotypes and
encouraging women
and men to enter non-traditional areas. In 2001-02, in England
and Wales, nearly half of all new Modern Apprentices (a traditionally
male-dominated area) were young women (43% Advanced Modern Apprentices and 55%
Foundation Modern Apprentices), in line with female
participation in work-based
training for young people generally. Moreover, the Careers Service is required
to operate an equal opportunities
policy that questions stereotypical career
choices (for further details see article 10).

Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET)

110. Recognising that women are under-represented in the SET sector, the
Government is committed to increase the representation of
women in the SET
sector at all levels and, for this purpose, conducted thorough evaluations of
the situation of women in SET in the
UK. As a follow-up to the 1994 Rising
Tide report, the Government set up the Promoting SET for Women Unit (PSETW)
in the Office of Science and Technology (OST) in its Department
for Trade and
Industry, to tackle the under-representation of women in SET. The role of the
Unit is to improve the recruitment, retention
and progression of women
throughout SET education and employment and to increase their involvement in
shaping SET policy. The Unit’s
long-term objective is to achieve a SET
community where it is assumed that women can have successful, rewarding careers
based on
equality of opportunity at every level throughout all institutions.

111. Other Government measures to promote the role of women in science,
engineering and technology include: Baroness Greenfield’s Review, a
strategic review that aims to identify priorities for more focused action to
improve the recruitment and retention of women in
SET and highlights
women’s achievement and contribution to SET. Recognising mentoring as a
key tool in personal development
and empowerment, the PSETW Unit is funding a
pilot 3-year national mentoring scheme for women in SET. The Project is
delivered through
two organizations, the Women’s Engineering Society (WES)
and the Association of Women in Science and Engineering respectively
(AWISE) and
supported by five major companies (Ford, HSBC, BAE, Astra Zeneca and Alstom
Power). An awareness-raising campaign that
includes the production of posters
illustrating the profile of young women in SET careers, depicting a range of
professions that
can be entered through both vocational training or via an
academic route. The posters highlight the relevance of SET and aim to convince
girls to enter SET careers. In recognition of Rosalind Franklin’s
contribution to 20th century science, the Government set up the
Rosalind Franklin Award, in 2002. The competition aims to further the
Government’s
objectives to improve the overall international ranking of
the UK’s science and engineering base and to increase the participation
of
women in SET. The Athena Awards project is a UK-wide initiative that aims
to encourage the advancement of women in higher education and to significantly
increase the number
of women recruited in managerial positions within the SET
field. This project builds on best practices such as development grants
to
Higher Education Institutions for mentoring, networking and staff development
for women in science and engineering. As part of
its efforts to reduce job
segregation and gender stereotypes, the Government commissioned a study on
Maximising Returns to Science Engineering and Technology Careers,
published in January 2002.

112. The Science and Engineering Ambassadors (SEAs) programme was officially
launched by the Department of Trade and Industry and
the Department for
Education and Skills jointly on 31 January 2002. The programme is co-ordinated
nationally by SETNET and managed
locally by the UK-wide network of 53 SETPoints.
SEAs provide a structure to strengthen and expand, within a single
quality-assured
framework, all of the activities that encourage younger people
with STEM skills to go back into schools to act as role models, relating
the
STEM subjects more clearly to the world of work, and encouraging others to
follow them.. SEAs is an integral part of the larger
Science Technology
Engineering Maths (STEM) Delivery Initiative and will play a major role in
delivering the STEM Delivery objective.
The Programme is backed by companies
including BAE SYSTEMS, BP, IBM, Ford and Unilever, who run schemes in local
schools. SEAs aim
to provide a national umbrella resource that establishes a
quality “brand” and will make Ambassadors available to all
schools
that want them. As of 22 January 2003, there were 667 Ambassadors registered
with a further 3,000 being trained and more
coming on stream daily. Of those who
have applied and are under 30, over half are women. The WISE programme
“Speaking Out”
has made institution speakers’ database
available to the SEAs management and a particular effort is being made to
attract people
from all under-represented groups.

113. Recognising that women’s participation in ITEC education and
employment is lower than that of
men[10], the Government is
attempting to improve this by an integrated and holistic approach. The
Government conducted a comprehensive analysis
of the position of women on
courses that are expected to lead to a career in ITEC. The analysis compared
patterns in the participation
of women in the UK with those in other countries,
and also identified lessons for education and employment policy and best
practices
that can be learned from experiences abroad, with the aim to improve
the situation for women in the UK. The Opportunity for All White Paper,
published in February 2001, illustrates the Government’s commitment to
working with business to increase women’s
representation in this sector. A
cross-departmental strategy was developed with an integrated approach following
women through education
and into ITEC employment. The strategy addresses
education, learning and career choices (to counter the negative perceptions
girls
develop about ITEC); unemployed women and women re-entering the labour
market and career changes (to address the problems women face
accessing
appropriate training or re-skilling and to overcome employer prejudice about
their potential as ITEC professionals); and
retention in ITEC employment (to
ensure that working practices in ITEC businesses do not make it difficult for
women to remain in
employment or progress in their chosen career path).

The Media

114. The role of the media in the portrayal of women is widely recognised by
Government, broadcasting regulators and broadcasters.
Full details of the
operations and regulations of the UK media were illustrated in the previous
reports and this report therefore
concentrates largely on recent
developments.

115. A new regulator for the whole
communications sector, Office for Communications (OFCOM), will supersede the
current regulators,
the Independent Television Commission, Radio Authority,
Broadcasting Standards Commission, OFTEL and Radio-communications Agency.
The
Communications Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, requires OFCOM
to set licence conditions for all broadcasters
who meet the thresholds to
promote equality of opportunity between men and women. There will be a
corresponding duty on OFCOM to
promote equality of opportunity in employment
within broadcasting bodies and to promote the development of opportunities for
training
and retraining of persons whom broadcasters employ or who work in
connection with the making of programmes for inclusion in any service.

Portrayal of women in advertising

116. Television advertising must comply with the Independent Television
Commission (ITC) Advertising Standards Code as revised in
September 2002. The
Code states that “advertisements must not prejudice respect for human
dignity or humiliate, stigmatise
or undermine the standing of identifiable
groups of people” (Section 6.6). The Code does recognise that the use of
stereotypes
is an inevitable part of establishing characters within the brief
span of a TV commercial, but warns that care is needed to ensure
that the use of
such stereotypes does not condone or feed prejudice or perpetuate damaging
misconceptions. Broadcasters are responsible
for making sure that advertisements
shown on their channels comply with the ITC Code, and most broadcasters use the
Broadcast Advertising
Clearance Centre to check them for compliance. Although
traditional gender stereotypes still appear, the trend in recent years has
been
towards greater experimentation with less stereotyped imagery and greater use of
irony when stereotypes are used or, often,
reversed. This is reflected by the
decline in percentage of complaints related to sexism in advertising from 45% in
1999-2000 to
37% in 2001-02[11].

Employment of women in the broadcasting
media

117. The Government recognises that increasing the number of women in senior
posts in broadcasting can result in the portrayal of
women in a fair and
sympathetic manner in this industry. Appointments to broadcasting regulatory and
complaints bodies are made on
merit. Within this framework, the Department for
Culture, Media and Sport has set a target for 50% representation by women on its
sponsored bodies by 2004. In August 2001, the Government reached its interim
target of 35%, with Ministerial appointments to broadcasting
regulatory and
complaints bodies standing at 34.8%. Positive steps are being taken to achieve
the 2004 targets, including: (i) active
participation in the Women and Equality
Unit’s (WEU) regional seminars aimed at encouraging women to enter
high-level public
appointment (see article 7 for further details); (ii) targeted
sectoral media articles; (iii) wide-dissemination of all Government-sponsored
body posts (e.g. through the internet); (iv) working with equality groups,
individuals and others to identify potential candidates
for public appointments,
particularly among under represented groups. As mentioned in the previous
report, the media are subject
to Equal Opportunities legislation.

118. In 2002 the BBC brought together all of its equal opportunity and
diversity activities into one shared service centre. The newly
formed
‘Diversity Centre’ covers the whole spectrum of diversity activity
from race and religion to disability, age,
sexual orientation and gender. In
recent years the BBC has made progress in meeting its publicly stated targets
for representation
of women at all levels of the organisation. The percentage of
women who have reached the most senior levels of management in the
organisation
increased from 16.5% in 1993 to 37.8% in 2002. Where representation is still low
in some non-traditional areas (e.g.
engineering, technical resources), the BBC
is continuing initiatives that positively impact on the recruitment of women.
Everyone
involved in recruitment is required to undertake ‘Fair
Selection’ training to ensure they are fully aware of the BBC’s
responsibility under the Sex Discrimination Act (1975) and other equality
legislation. The BBC carries out regular portrayal monitoring to ensure that the
representation of all groups,
including women is acceptable. The BBC does not
consider flexible working and childcare matters as ‘women’s
issues’.
Although they may predominantly affect women in the workforce the
BBC believes they apply equally to all individuals and should therefore
not be
aligned with gender policies. Moreover, the BBC is an active member of
Opportunity Now, an initiative aimed at realising the
economic potential that
women at all levels can contribute to the workforce, and regularly takes part in
network events, sharing
best practice and updating its managers on key changes
in legislation.

119. All 15 independent TV companies, GMTV (the national breakfast television
licensee), Channel 4 and Channel 5 have policy statements
on equal opportunities
and arrangements in place for monitoring the effectiveness of their policies,
for example in responses to
job advertisements and appointments. Initiatives
include flexible working arrangements, childcare provision, job sharing,
targeted
job advertisements, training courses for women and work experience
placements. Women are relatively well-represented at middle and
senior
management levels, standing at 39% for ITV, 43% for Channel 4, 42% for Channel 5
in 2001[12]. Companies have adopted
a wide range of initiatives, including links with schools, local projects,
sponsorships or participation
in careers events, special training schemes
targeted trainee programmes, work placement schemes, mentoring and work
shadowing.

The Internet

120. The UK obscenity legislation and the law in general applies to the
Internet as it does elsewhere. Material that is illegal “off
line”
is illegal “on line”. The legal framework underpins the work of the
Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), a self-regulatory
body established in September
1996 by Internet Service Providers (ISP), with the support of the Government, in
response to growing
concern about the availability of potentially illegal
material, particularly child pornography, on the Internet. It operates a hotline
to which people can report potentially illegal material they come across on the
Internet. The IWF transmits reports on such material
to the police, when it
originates in the UK, or to the National Criminal Intelligence Service when it
originates overseas, so that
the relevant law enforcement agencies can consider
whether to take action. The IWF also passes reports to ISPs so that they can
remove
illegal material hosted on their systems. If the ISP fails to remove the
site, following notification by the IWF they can also be
liable to prosecution.
The Internet Content Rating Association based in the UK is working towards the
international development of
a voluntary content rating system. It is intended
that this will be compatible with filtering software packages which have been
developed
to enable schools and parents to restrict the types of websites to
which their children have access.

ARTICLE 6: EXPLOITATION OF WOMEN

Prostitution and trafficking in women

121. The UK is fully committed to combating trafficking in women and its
associated activities. The UK was one of the first countries
to sign the United
Nations Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime, and its Optional
Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish
trafficking in persons, especially
women and children. This requires signatories to ensure trafficking is a
punishable offence, alongside
the introduction of prevention, education and
support initiatives for victims. The Government is taking steps to implement the
EC
Framework Decision of 19 July 2002 on combating trafficking in human beings.
The Government also supports action to combat illegal
immigration including that
of women for sexual purposes, in both EU and international fora and has
supported information campaigns
aimed at alerting women to the risks involved in
such illegal immigration. The UK seeks to encourage information and good
practice
sharing to combat trafficking. Among other initiatives in 2002, the UK
participated in the EU/IOM STOP European Conference on Preventing
and Combating
Trafficking in Human Beings.

122. Within the UK there are currently comprehensive laws in place to deal
with those who engage in activities associated with trafficking
and prostitution
(see previous reports for details).

123. The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act introduced a new offence of
trafficking for the purpose of controlling in prostitution
with a maximum
penalty of 14 years. This offence came into force 10th February 2003.
It is a stop-gap measure pending introduction of more wide ranging offences
covering trafficking for the purposes
of sexual exploitation which are included
in the new Sexual Offences Bill. We are working to define a new offence of
trafficking
for labour exploitation, which will be introduced when parliamentary
time permits. Trafficking in human organs is already specifically
outlawed
throughout the EU.

124. With the aim to review and update the existing laws, the Government
conducted a consultation process, Setting the Boundaries: Reforming the Law
on Sex Offences. Activities such as pimping, and controlling someone in
prostitution are considered in depth in the review, and the recommendations
that
the Government is currently considering seek to ensure that those involved in
these activities are adequately and appropriately
dealt with and that the
penalties involved are suitable.

125. In May 2000, the Government set up Reflex, a practical multi-agency
taskforce on organised immigration crime, which includes
people trafficking.
Between June 2002 and December 2002, Reflex has had 27 operations which have
reached the arrest phase. These
operations range from those conducted at the
local level by individual police forces or agencies to the national level
involving
multi-agency partnerships. Its three main tasks are to develop
intelligence leads for the operational arm, to carry out surveillance
and to
provide legal assistance to investigations with a view to future prosecutions.
It is providing a significant new capability
to respond to trafficking of women.
A Child Protection Pilot Project has also been launched recently at Heathrow
(London’s
main airport) as a joint initiative between the Metropolitan
Police and the Immigration Service.

126. As set out in chapter 5 of the White Paper Secure Borders, Safe
Haven: Integration with Diversity in Modern Britain, in co-operation with
the voluntary sector, the Government is looking at how it will offer the victims
of trafficking particular
support so that they can escape their circumstances
and, in certain cases, help law enforcement against organised criminals. Where
they are willing to come forward to the authorities, the Government is looking
at special arrangements for their protection. A pilot
scheme for adult victims
of trafficking for sexual exploitation was launched on March 10th.
The scheme is being delivered through a voluntary organisation with considerable
experience of providing specialist housing to victims
of domestic violence and
other vulnerable women. The scheme will run initially on a pilot basis for six
months, in order to assess
the scale of demand for the services and to test its
effectiveness.

127. The Government has also recently published a trafficking toolkit, which
will be a best practice guide for immigration officers,
police and others
potentially dealing with trafficking. In particular, it will raise awareness of
the difference between trafficking
and smuggling, and help those concerned to
treat trafficking victims fairly. The toolkit is available on www.crimereduction.co.uk/toolkits

128. Alongside
effective enforcement in the UK is the need to develop intelligence and
undertake joint operations against trafficking
networks in transit and source
countries. We have provided a total of £200,000 to fund various
anti-trafficking projects in
the Western Balkans region implemented under the
auspices of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s
democratisation
arm, the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. We
have also provided assistance to the recently established anti-trafficking
task
force at the South East Europe Co-operation Initiative (SECI) centre in
Bucharest, which is focused on cross border co-operation
and intelligence
sharing between its 11 member states in the Balkan region.

129. The Government is funding projects as part of its Crime Reduction
Programme, to tackle crime and disorder associated with prostitution, with
the aim to identify models of best practice. This will include exit
strategies
for women and men who wish to leave prostitution. Moreover, the Government
conducts training programmes for immigration
officials that include raising
awareness on the issue of trafficking in women. In May 2000, the Home Office and
the Department of
Health issued joint guidance on children involved in
prostitution, emphasising that children involved in prostitution are, primarily,
abused children, and ought to be treated as such and cared for appropriately.
The guidance stresses the use of the full range of
criminal offences against
‘child abusers’ as well as encouraging all relevant bodies to treat
the child primarily as
a victim of abuse, safeguarding and promoting their
welfare, and work together to provide children with strategies to exit
prostitution.
(Also see articles 2 and 16 for further details).

ARTICLE 7: POLITICAL AND PUBLIC LIFE

Women in political life

130. The Government is taking action to increase the number of women in
political and public life. After the 1997 General Election
there were 120 women
as Members of Parliaments (MPs), double the figure from the previous election.
The General Election on 2001
resulted in the return of 118 women as MPs,
representing 18% of members. Since the changes in composition in 1999, women now
make
up 16% of the House of Lords. In 1999, women represented 24% of the UK
members of the European Parliament. With the aim to increase
the number of women
in the political life, the Government introduced the Sex Discrimination
(Election of Candidates) Act 2002 to remove the domestic legal barrier to
political parties who wish to use positive measures to reduce inequality in the
numbers of
women and men elected. The Act is permissive, meaning parties
themselves are free to choose what measures, if any, they wish to take
to reduce
gender inequality (see article 4 for details).

The Northern Ireland Assembly

131. The new Northern Ireland Assembly was elected on 25 June 1998 under the
terms of the Northern Ireland (Elections) Act 1998. 15 of the 108 members
of the Northern Ireland Assembly are women. Before suspension of the Assembly in
October 2002, three of the
ten Departments were headed by female Ministers
(Agriculture and Rural Development; Health, Social Services and Public Safety;
and
Education and Learning). One of the two Northern Ireland Women’s
Coalition Assembly Members is also one of the Deputy Speakers
in the Assembly.
Before suspension of the Assembly on 14 October 2002 two of the four Ministers
were women. Following suspension
the Secretary Of State for Northern Ireland
appointed two additional Junior Ministers to his team to assist in the work of
overseeing
the formerly devolved institutions. Two of the five NIO Ministers are
women. In the Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland political
parties affirmed the right of women to full and equal political
participation.

The Scottish Parliament

132. In a referendum in September 1997 the people of Scotland voted for a
Scottish Parliament. The first elections were held in May
1999, resulting in 48
women (out of 129) Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). Today, following
the May 2003 elections, the
number of women MSPs has increased to 51,
representing 39.5% of the Scottish Parliament. There are 30 women (or 41.1%) out
of 73
Constituency MSPs; and 21 women (or 37.5%) out of 56 Regional MSPs,
representing an increase of 5.4% from 1999. There are three women
Cabinet
Ministers (27.3%).

The Welsh Assembly

133. In July 1997, the UK Government published a White Paper, A Voice for
Wales, outlining proposals for devolution in Wales. These proposals were
endorsed in the referendum of 18 September 1997. The elections
for the first
Assembly were held on 6 May 1999. The assembly has sixty elected Members.
Following the May 2003 elections, the proportion
of women members of the
National Assembly for Wales increased from 41.6% to 50% (30 out of 60 members).
55.5% of women account for
Cabinet Ministers (or 5 out of 9 Cabinet Ministers
are women).

Women in public appointments

134. In recent years, the Government has undertaken a number of initiatives
aimed at increasing women’s representation on public
bodies, as well as
people from ethnic minority backgrounds and people with disabilities. There has
been a steady increase in the
number of appointments held by women from 26% in
1992 to 34% in 2001. The number of appointments held by people from ethnic
minority
backgrounds has also increased during this period, from 20% in 1992 to
38% in 2001. In 2001, at least 440 appointments were held
by disabled people,
and of these 197 were held by women. See tables 7.1-7.2 in annex 2 (article 7,
p. 4).

135. Recognising the importance of women and men’s equal representation
in public life, the Government is intensifying its efforts
to increase the
number of women in public bodies. All appointments are made on merit, and are
monitored by the Independent Commissioner
for Public Appointments. The aim is to
increase women’s representation to 45-50% of the public appointments made
by the majority
of Government departments by the end of 2005. Women are already
engaged in public life at a local level – holding around half
of all
appointments such as school governors, magistrates or members of health trusts.
The Government commissioned research with
the aim to gain a deeper understanding
of the barriers to women’s access to high-level public appointments in
order to facilitate
their entry. In this context, the Women and Equality Unit
(WEU), in collaboration with the Public Appointments Unit, the Women’s
National Commission, the Equal Opportunities Commission and other stakeholders,
has run a national outreach programme that included
a series of seminars to
encourage women from a diverse range of backgrounds to make the move from local
to national level appointments.
These regional seminars provided practical help,
information and support to women thinking about applying for a national public
appointment.
The seminars proved successful were extended to national seminars
to target employers (through female Human Resources Managers),
women in
journalism, trade union women, women in Public Relations and ethnic minority
women. The ethnic minority women event aimed
to facilitate women’s access
into public life at national, regional and local levels.

136. A research programme is now underway to evaluate the effectiveness of
the seminars and explore in more depth women’s views
of public
appointments and their experience of applying and holding them. Specific
research will also be done on the experiences
and perceptions of minority ethnic
women in public appointments. The WEU has also produced a cascade pack,
containing good practice
guidance on developing seminars and awareness raising
tools for encouraging women to take up public appointments. This will be made
available to the devolved assemblies, local government, MPs, employers, public
bodies and individuals.

Diversity in public appointments: the Government’s
commitments

137. The Government is keen to ensure that further and faster progress is
made in public appointments and has two fundamental commitments:
(i) equal
representation of women and men in public appointments, pro-rata representation
of members of ethnic minority groups and
increased participation of disabled
people; and (ii) use of fair selection procedures which recognise
non-traditional career patterns
as suitable qualifications for appointments. In
line with these commitments, each central Government department has an
individual
plan of action including specific time-based targets for increasing
the proportion of appointments held by women, people from ethnic
minority
backgrounds and disabled people. The plans were first published in 1998, and are
updated and published each year. Details
of the latest plans for action on
diversity were published in February 2002 in Public Bodies: Opening Up Public
Appointments 2002-2005. Alongside the action being taken by individual
departments to achieve their targets, measures are being taken across Government
to increase diversity in public appointments, and promote understanding of the
work and value of public bodies. The Cabinet Office
is responsible for promoting
best practice with regard to public appointments, working with departments to
enable continuous improvement
in the quality and diversity of appointees.

Local Government

138. The Government is following up on its proposals put forward by the 1998
local government White Paper Modern Local Government: in touch with the
People, that set out changes to political management structures, electoral
and consultation arrangements, accountability and scrutiny of councils
aimed at
making local government more accessible and encouraging more women to stand for
election.

Women as local councillors

139. In 2002, representation of women as councillors rose to around 28% of
all councillors, a clear increase since 1964 when the proportion
was 10%. It
should be noted that there are roughly the same numbers of women in leadership
positions as men. The Government hopes
to encourage more women to become
councillors. The main problem in recruiting new councillors of any gender or
race is the steady
decline in the public’s interest in local affairs and
the standing of local government and politics generally. The Government
is
addressing this through its programme of democratic renewal. It is committed to
increasing women’s participation in local
decision-making and becoming
councillors in due course.

Local Government staff

140. Of all staff working in local government 71% are women (of whom 39% work
full-time). Currently, 16% of Chief Executives and Chief
Officers are female,
illustrating progress since the last report, when only 10% were women.
Recognising the need to increase women’s
representation, local government
is involved in several equal opportunities initiatives aimed at increasing
opportunities for female
employees. These include Opportunity 2000 and
the Women’s Leadership Programme run by the Local Government
Management Board. In 2001, a performance indicator of the percentage of the top
5% of earners who are
women in every local authority was introduced, with the
aim to measure individual authorities’ commitment to equality of
opportunity
in senior posts.

Northern Ireland

Women in public appointments

141. The Northern Ireland Office (NIO), a Whitehall Department, is bound by
the revised Code of Practice on Ministerial Appointments
to Bodies, issued in
July 2001. The annual report on Northern Ireland Office public appointments
(published in the Northern Ireland Office 2002 Departmental Report,
Expenditure Plans and Priorities — www.nio.gov.uk) demonstrates that at March
2001, the level of female representation in public bodies increased to 41%
(March 2000 it was 40%). Of
the 14 publicly appointed bodies listed in the
report, 4 Chair and 2 Deputy Chair posts were held by women. With the aim to
intensify
efforts aimed at increasing the number of women in public life, the
Northern Ireland Office’s Diversity Action Plan, Opening Up Public
Appointments 2002-2005, states the goal to increase the proportion of public
appointments held by women to 45% by 2005.

142. Departments in Northern Ireland have to base their procedures for making
appointments on the Code of Practice and Guidance (described in the
previous report), revised in April 2002, that includes the principle of
‘equal opportunities’. Departments
are also encouraged to take
appropriate action, wherever possible, to attract suitable candidates from all
sections of society and
this, in turn, should lead to wider representation of
women on public bodies. Departments must take care not to unlawfully
discriminate
against any group of people. The Central Appointments Unit in the
Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister prepares
an annual report
on public appointments in Northern Ireland (www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/publicappointments).
The report sets out in detail the number of applications received and
appointments made by each of the Northern Ireland Departments
and includes an
analysis of these figures by gender. The latest figures for the percentage of
women currently serving on public bodies
in Northern Ireland is almost 32%. Of
the 119 publicly appointed bodies in Northern Ireland in December 2002, 35 Chair
and 5 Deputy
Chair posts are held by women.

143. The Northern Ireland Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment
undertook a specific, targeted outreach initiative to encourage
women’s
participation in Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs), in January 2002. The
Department also approached organisations
such as the Federation of Small
Business, Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Activity and Northern Ireland
Congress/Irish Congress
Trade Unions as part of its outreach initiative. As a
result, over 60% of the applicants were women. Of the 102 applicants
short-listed,
51 (50%) were female and 10 (50%) of those applicants interviewed
were female. Overall 205 (64%) males and 115 (36%) females applied
for the
Invest NI Board. 10 (62.5%) males and 6 (37.5%) females were appointed.

District Council

144. There are currently 108 female councillors in the 26 Northern Ireland
district councils. This represents an overall percentage
of over 18%, an
increase of 4% since 1998. Following appointments in June 2002, 4 councils have
a woman as Mayor/Chairperson and
a further 5 councils have a woman as Deputy
Mayor/Vice-Chairperson.

Scotland

Women in public appointments

145. The Scottish Executive is committed to encouraging more women to apply
to serve on the boards of Non-Departmental Public Bodies
(NDPBs). At 1 December
2002, women accounted for 36% of all appointees in post. Recognising that the
previous targets for achieving
greater diversity have not secured lasting
change, a detailed strategy for improving diversity in public appointments will
be drawn
up by the new Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland (once
appointed) and the Executive. The Public Appointments and Public Bodies etc
(Scotland) Bill currently (at the time of print) before the Scottish
Parliament seeks to establish such a Commissioner. The Scottish Executive is
already doing a great deal to promote public service more widely, but it will
take some time before measures designed to generate
more applications from
currently under-represented groups have full effect. The Executive continues to
promote public service through:

• The creation of a Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland
with specific responsibility for promoting diversity in
public appointments;

• The notification of specific vacancies to a wider variety of interest
groups (in addition to advertising in the press);

• The introduction (from 13 May 2002) of a Parliamentary notification
system for public appointments; Commissioning or undertaking
action with other
interested parties to secure a better understanding of diversity-related issues
and how to address them;

• Conducting a second tranche of the Public Appointments Work Shadow
Initiative (launched 30 May 2002);

146. In 1999, 22% of councillors in Scotland were women. The Commission on
Local Government and the Scottish Parliament recognise
the importance of
women’s participation in decision-making positions, recommending that
councils should review how they organise
their business so that a wider
cross-section of the community could realistically consider taking on the
responsibilities of council
membership. In this context, the Renewing Local
Democracy Working Group put forward a number of recommendations aimed at
widening
access to council membership, and included consideration of the impact
on women’s participation in council business. The recommendations
that
fell under the responsibility of the Council were addressed in the recent Local
Government White Paper Renewing Local Democracy: The Next Steps. The
consultation period on the White Paper finished on 31 July 2002, the Executive
is now developing the next steps in relation
to legislation and the future
governance of councils.

Local Government staff

147. Although there are three women Chief Executives (6%), this represents a
100% increase since 1996. As at June 2001, the percentage
of women employed by
Scottish Councils was 65% of local authority employees (50% of local authority
full-time employees; 90% of local
authority part-time employees).

Wales

148. The Welsh Assembly Government is committed to ensuring that public
appointments are more representative of the communities they
serve by improving
diversity. An action plan has been approved, and is being implemented, with the
aim to increase the number of
applications received from under-represented
groups, including women. This strategic approach includes research, capacity
building
and outreach work. The Voluntary Sector Partnership Council is
encouraging the Welsh Assembly Government to promote further its equal
pay
initiatives, by requiring Unitary Authorities to provide a gender audit of its
staff appointments with classification by level
of appointment and salary scale,
and with information on the composition of the appointment panels. See table 7.5
in annex 2 (article
7, p. 4).

Trade Unions

149. At the end of 2000 there were 226 trade unions in Great Britain with
7.78 million members. In Autumn 2001, 47% of employees who
were union members
were women. The number of women general secretaries, currently 33, has increased
fivefold since 1993, and represents
approximately 15% of the total. Women now
account for 18 out of 56 members, or 32% of the Trades Union Congress (TUC)
General Council.
Trade unions are increasingly aware of the need to attract more
women members in order to stop a decline in their membership. For
this purpose,
trade unions are pursuing initiatives to increase women’s representation.
For instance, the TUC’s New Unionism project, launched to boost
membership across the movement, is targeting growth sectors of the economy:
typically female, part-time and non-manual.
It should be noted that the Deputy
General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary of the TUC are women.

The Civil Service

150. The Civil Service is committed to equality of opportunity for all staff.
The Civil Service Management Code states that there
must be no unfair
discrimination on the basis of age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual
orientation, race, colour, nationality,
ethnic or national origin, or (in
Northern Ireland) community background. In the Autumn of 1999, the Civil Service
Management Board
pledged to drive forward a new agenda of Civil Service reform.
One of the six key themes was ‘A dramatic improvement in diversity’.
All departments pledged action plans to reflect this commitment. The Diversity
Sub-Group set stretching targets for the Senior Civil
Service to improve
diversity by 2004 – 2005. The targets were set at double the rate of
growth in the numbers of women expected
on the then current trends. Departments
set their own targets for diversity for grades below the Senior Civil Service
and Cabinet
Office issued guidance on how to set targets to ensure that they
were fair, but stretching.

151. Departments were also committed to develop policies to enable staff to
achieve a better balance between their work and private
lives. Heads of
Departments became personally accountable to Ministers on progress against these
commitments and an annual report
is submitted to the Prime Minister by the Head
of the Home Civil Service. In 2000, an independent Civil Service wide diversity
survey
was carried out to assess staff perception in relation to the management
of diversity. The survey demonstrated that the sense of
satisfaction with the
Civil service as an employer was greater for women than for their male
colleagues and that although the majority
of women in the Civil Service do not
feel that their multiple roles outside the workplace impact their career, some
do feel that
gender related issues have had an adverse effect on their careers.
In January 2002, Cabinet Office issued guidance for departments
on Equal Pay.
All departments are committed to an equal pay review and to prepare any
necessary action plans.

Women with a Disability

152. In 2001, the proportion of permanent staff within the Civil Service with
a disability was 3.1 % (this figure excludes the Ministry
of Defence). In
support of achieving equality of opportunity in the workplace, the Government
produced a new guide, A Practical Guide to Good Practice in the Recruitment
of People with Disabilities to the Civil Service, to promote good practice
from advertising recruitment to induction and support, also disseminated through
the website (www.diversity-whatworks.gov.uk).
A number of Government departments and agencies have registered with the
Department for Work and Pension’s Positive About
Disabled People symbol,
making a public commitment to improving opportunities for disabled people. For
instance, offering guaranteed
interviews to suitably qualified candidates,
consulting with employees, advising on ways of retaining people who have become
disabled
and developing awareness programmes for line managers. Other Government
initiatives in this context include the Workstep scheme aimed at
providing work opportunities for people with disabilities who are unable to
carry out the full rage of duties. Workstep
applicants for the Civil Service are
now exempt from fair and open competition on recruitment. The Access to
Work scheme provides help for departments and agencies to overcome
work-related obstacles faced by disabled people, such as funding adaptations
to
equipment or premises and meeting additional costs of fares to work.
‘Workable in the Civil Service’ aims to enable Government
departments and agencies to offer disabled graduates and undergraduates work
placements of between
one and twelve months. Nearly 200 students have benefited
so far. Moreover, the Government is implementing the Bursary Scheme for
Civil
Servants with Disabilities that offers a fund of £7,000 to support
individuals on a two-year programme of career training
and development. The
scheme is open to all permanent civil servants with a disability, who have a
potential to reach senior management
position within the Civil Service. Since
the launch of the scheme in 1997, the number of disabled people awarded the
Bursary scheme
has increased from ten to thirty-one, of whom 52 % were women.
For more information on such schemes see articles 3 and 11.

Ethnic minority women

153. The Pathways initiative was launched in 2001 to help meet the
targets set to increase representation of ethnic minorities in the Senior Civil
Service. It provides senior civil service managers from ethnic minority
backgrounds with the tools and direction to compete for Senior
Civil Service
posts. Each programme has 21 participants, with new cohorts starting each year,
and four programmes planned. 53% of
the first cohort are women.

154. For information on the Government’s initiatives to increase the
number of women in the Civil Service, including the Senior
Civil Service and
Fast Stream (graduate entry route for senior Civil Service careers),
benchmarking, flexible working and childcare
provisions see annex 1 (article 7,
pp. 5-6).

Northern Ireland

155. In Northern Ireland on 1 January 2002, women represented over 54% of all
non-industrial staff in the Northern Ireland Civil Service
(NICS). The
percentage of women at Deputy Principal level increased from 21% in 1999 to 28%
in 2002 and the percentage of women at
Senior Principal/Principal level
increased from 18% in 1999 to 23% in 2002. In May 2002, the NICS announced a
goal of at least 19%
female representation in administrative posts in the Senior
Civil Service by December 2005. Female representation at this level increased
from 9% in 1999 to 16% in 2002.

Scotland

156. In Scotland on 1 January 2003, women represented 49% of whole-time
equivalent staff in the Scottish Executive, its Agencies and
associated
Departments. Of these, 32 (0.9%) were from a minority ethnic background. In the
senior civil service, women held 59 (29.1%)
of the posts. The Scottish Executive
enhanced its established equal opportunities policy through the launch of a new
Diversity Strategy
in November 2000, setting challenging targets to increase the
number of women in under-represented grades and aiming to progress
gender
equality through a number of key objectives (including raising awareness through
diversity training, support for part-time
workers through a staff network; the
extension of a variety of family friendly alternative working patterns,
including the piloting
of a new job share bank, and a review of current
childcare provision). In addition, the Executive will implement a revised
bullying
and harassment policy and a new strategy on age diversity, including a
review of existing retirement age in 2003.

Wales

157. The National Assembly for Wales has a comprehensive policy on equal
opportunities and diversity, including initiatives on flexible
working hours,
part-time working, job sharing, special leave, parental leave, nursery
facilities and holiday playcare. The National
Assembly is working to mainstream
equality policy and diversity into all management practices. An Intranet site is
available to all
staff providing guidance, information and examples of good
practice. Furthermore, the National Assembly plays a proactive role in
representing the interests of women, people with disabilities and people from
ethnic minorities, and promotes equal opportunities
and diversity policies. The
National Assembly for Wales has set up a number of internal networks for staff
from under-represented
groups including women and these will provide a key role
in consultation on policies and guidance in the future.

ARTICLE 8: WOMEN AS INTERNATIONAL REPRESENTATIVES

The Diplomatic Service

158. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), which provides the staff to
British Diplomatic Missions overseas, has an objective
to ensure that staff are
free from direct or indirect discrimination and to promote a culture of equal
opportunities for all staff.
All members of the FCO Board will soon have a
personal objective relating to diversity in the FCO, and there is a Board-level
champion
for women’s issues on the Board. The department is continuously
reviewing existing equal opportunities policies and re-examining
the position of
women in the FCO. As part of this process, a target to increase the numbers of
women reaching the Senior Management
Structure (SMS) to 20 percent by 2005, has
been set. A detailed programme of action to improve the prospects for, and to
tackle internal
cultural barriers to, women in the FCO has also been introduced.
The FCO already has in place a series of policies aimed at improving
the
position of women within the organisation. They include: equal opportunities;
promotion of flexible working; facilitation of
joint postings; a robust
harassment policy; career breaks of up to five years; the option to remain in
the UK for ten years to meet
domestic commitments; and childcare support,
including a workplace nursery.

159. Improved career break schemes, paid maternity leave and flexible working
practices should improve the numbers of women who remain
in the FCO and compete
for jobs at high levels. Recent changes to the scheme have introduced a common
focal point for all officers
on career breaks, to provide support and career
guidance during the break and to try to ensure that women are not disadvantaged
as
a result of taking a career break. The FCO has introduced a range of
objective mechanisms for promotion at different levels, aimed
at ensuring
equality of opportunity for all, irrespective of gender. Early results from the
Assessment and Development Centres (ADCs)
for promotion from Band B to Band C
and from Band D into the SMS suggest that a balance is being achieved. In 2002,
the majority
of entrants into the Diplomatic Service were women (109, or 54
percent). In the same year, there were 682 women (35% of the Diplomatic
Service
total) working overseas; 20 women (8% of the total) were working overseas as
Ambassadors or Heads of Mission; and 10 women
(13% of the total) were Heads of
Departments in the United Kingdom.

Women’s Role in Defence

160. The Ministry of Defence is committed to equality of opportunity
consistent with the need to maintain combat effectiveness. The
majority of posts
within the Armed Forces are open to
women[13] and their contribution to
the operational effectiveness of the Armed Forces is essential. During the
reporting period, the Ministry
has worked and will continue to work with the
Equal Opportunities Commission and discuss the results of further work to
examine the
wider issues of the employment of women in the Armed Forces. Between
1990 and 2002, the percentage of women in the Armed Forces has
increased from
5.5 to 8.3 percent. There has been a gradual increase in women’s
representation in the UK’s regular forces,
increasing from 8.2, in 1999,
to 9.7 percent, in 2002, for officer-levels and from 7.6 to 7.9 percent for
other ranks, during the
same period. Since the early 1990s, women have taken on
an increasingly wide range of roles and tasks. They have been able to serve
as
pilots and navigators in attack helicopters and in fast jets, and in all roles
on board surface warships, and in the Royal Artillery
and Royal Engineers. See
table 8.1-8.3 in annex 2 (article 8, page 5-7).

161. Because the Armed Forces do not recruit personnel directly to senior
levels, it will take some time before the expansions of
roles for women, made
during the 1990s, feeds through to the more senior ranks. In April 2002, there
was one Commodore and three
Captains in the Naval Service, three Brigadiers and
seventeen Colonels in the Army, and nine Group Captains in the RAF. After the
last extension of roles open to women in 1998, the Ministry of Defence carried
out a detailed study into the performance and suitability
of women in
close-combat roles in order to examine if these roles might be opened to women.
Taking into account the study, that resulted
the Women in the Armed Forces
Report, the Ministry of Defence announced, in 2002, that the current
restrictions on women serving in close-combat roles could not be lifted.

162. The report and the accompanying summary paper, which together describe
the details of the decision, have been made public. In
summary, although women
are, on average, less able to meet the physical demands of these roles, some
women would certainly be able
to do so and this was not, in itself, a reason to
exclude them. The key issue was whether the inclusion of women in close combat
teams could adversely affect the combat effectiveness of those teams in a
high-intensity direct fire battle. All the units in question
operate primarily
in small teams as fire teams or tank crews. The evidence suggested that on
operations other than close combat the
presence of women in small units does not
affect performance detrimentally. However, there was no evidence to show whether
this remained
the case under the extraordinary conditions of high intensity
combat. Given the lack of relevant direct evidence, from either field
studies or
the experience of other countries, the Secretary of State for Defence concluded
that military judgement must form the
basis of the decision. The military advice
was that under the conditions of a high-intensity, close-quarter battle, group
cohesion
becomes of much greater significance to team performance and, in such
an environment, the consequences of failure could have far
reaching and grave
consequences. To admit women, therefore, would involve a risk without any
offsetting gains in terms of combat
effectiveness. From a legal perspective, the
Sex Discrimination Act 1975 allows the Armed Forces to exclude women from close
combat
posts. The judgment of the European Court of Justice in Sirdar v.
the Army Board and the Secretary of State and relevant European
Community equality law upheld that position, subject to a requirement
periodically to assess the position.

ARTICLE 9: NATIONALITY

163. UK nationality legislation reflects the principle that men and women
have equal rights in this area and there have been no changes
since the last
report.

Immigration rules concerning marriage

164. UK Immigration Rules permit spouses of British citizens or those present
and settled in the UK to enter or remain in the UK for
a probationary period of
12 months with no restriction on employment — subject to meeting strict
criteria. At the end of this
time, settlement will normally be granted, provided
the requirements of the Immigration Rules relating to marriage continue to be
met. The probationary period, which applies equally to all applicants, is
considered an essential safeguard against abuse by those
who are prepared to use
marriage as a means to obtain settlement in the UK to which they would not
otherwise be entitled. The White
Paper Secure Borders, Safe Haven,
published in February 2002 proposes an increase in the probationary period on
marriage to 2 years.

165. To assist those subject to immigration control whose marriage breaks
down during the probationary year as a result of domestic
violence, the
Government introduced a domestic violence concession in June 1999. The
concession provides for the person to be granted
settlement, exceptionally
outside the Immigration Rules, if the domestic violence occurred while the
marriage was subsisting. Where
an application for an order or prosecution is
pending, the applicant may be granted further periods of 6 months limited leave
to
remain, subject to the same conditions, until the outcome of the proceedings
is known. The operation of the concession has been monitored
over its first two
years and the findings are currently being reviewed. The review will include
consideration of whether the range
of evidence required to meet the criteria
should be extended.

Refugees

166. A key element of the Government’s commitment as a safe haven for
those fleeing persecution is how we help those who have
the right to remain here
to rebuild their lives and to fulfil their potential as full members of society.
Many refugees[14] find it difficult
to make the transition from support to independence, particularly women with
children. To facilitate this process,
the Government has put into place new
co-ordination measures to improve refugees access to education, healthcare and
employment,
however difficulties still remain. In November 2000, the Government
launched the Refugee Integration Strategy Full and Equal Citizens,
designed to enhance the successful settlement of refugees in the UK and to help
them overcome the barriers that they may face which
prevent them from achieving
their full potential. The integration agenda is taken forward through the
National Refugee Integration
Forum, drawing together local authorities,
Government departments and the voluntary and private sectors to monitor and
steer the
development of a strategy for integration. It contains a number of sub
groups to cover the areas recognised as those needing particular
attention if
barriers to integration are to be overcome, including accommodation, community
development, community safety and racial
harassment, education of children,
employment and training, health and social care, positive images, research,
unaccompanied asylum
seeking children.

167. In 2002, each EU Member State was awarded funding to target projects
that take into account the needs of vulnerable people. This
included victims of
torture or rape, people requiring special medical treatment, elderly and
disabled people, and in particular,
women and children. This has enabled the
Government to fund additional projects working to enhance the reception of
asylum seekers
and the integration of refugees in the UK. Several projects
funded under the European Refugee Fund are working in partnership with
schools,
families and voluntary agencies to enable refugee women, their families and the
host communities to develop a sustainable
link and relationships.

ARTICLE 10: EDUCATION

The Government’s commitment to education

168. Recognising that education opens the door to
opportunity for all children, boys and girls alike, the Government is committed
to root out inequality and under-achievement and raise standards in all schools
and colleges to those of the very best. The Government
will deliver an increase
in education spending in the UK of £14.7 billion between 2002-03 and 2005.
The Government is intensifying
its efforts to build an inclusive society by
creating opportunities for women, men, girls and boys to develop their learning,
realising
their potential and achieving excellence in standards of education and
levels of skills. To achieve this, the Government has set
three objectives: (i)
give girls and boys an excellent start in education so that they have a better
foundation for future learning;
(ii) enable all women and men, girls and boys to
develop and to equip themselves with the skills, knowledge and personal
qualities
needed for life and work; (iii) encourage and enable women and men to
learn, improve their skills and enrich their lives. In the
UK responsibility for
the provision of education is devolved to local education authorities and
schools, colleges, and universities.
All are bound by the requirements of the
Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976, and the
Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to ensure equality of opportunity for
both women and men. There are many local strategies and policies devised and/or
adopted at
the local level (for example, by local Learning and Skills Councils,
Further Education colleges or other post-16 learning providers)
to address
the particular needs and aspirations of their local populations.

169. In addition, a number of national
strategies, policies and initiatives are designed to increase the
participation, retention
and achievement of ethnic minority learners and thus
ethnic minority women. These include:

• Introduction, from May 2002, of the requirement under the Race
Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 for further (and higher) education
institutions to prepare a written statement of its policies for promoting race
equality, procedures
for fulfilling them and mechanisms for assessing the impact
of its policies on the admission and progress of students and staff;

• Development and implementation of a ‘Widening Adult
Participation’ strategy by the Learning and Skills Council.
This strategy
will complement the Council’s ‘Equality and Diversity’
strategy;

• Development and implementation of appropriate actions in response to
the recommendations made by the Commission for Black
Staff in Further Education.
These include steps to increase the number of ethnic minority senior
managers and to raise awareness
of equality and diversity
issues across the sector thereby providing an appropriate environment
and identifiable role models to help
attract and retain prospective
ethnic minority learners;

• The Department’s continued funding of the Ethnic Minority
Student Achievement Grant (now managed and administered by
the Learning and
Skills Council) designed to raise participation and achievement of ethnic
minority students in post-16 learning;

• Introduction, as part of the new further education strategy
‘Success for All’, of Strategic Area Reviews through
which the Learning and Skills Council can encourage more ethnic minority
providers to enter
the market and thus help attract prospective ethnic minority
learners;

• Development and implementation by the Learning and Skills Council of
Equality and Diversity Impact Measures which, when set
alongside existing
performance monitoring and quality improvement procedures, will help monitor
progress and identify issues that
need to be addressed to widen
participation.

Sure Start

170. As part of the Government’s efforts to implement a holistic and
integrated approach to early education, childcare, family
services and equal
opportunity for young children and families, the 2002 Spending Review combined
the former Sure Start and Early
Years and Childcare Units into a new single
interdepartmental Unit, now designated as the Sure Start Unit. The Review also
unveiled
a combined £1.5 billion budget by 2005-06 for Sure Start, Early
Education and Childcare programmes within which there will be
a more than
doubling in childcare spending. The Unit is responsible for establishing
children’s centres in disadvantaged areas, combining high quality
childcare with early education, family support,
health services and training and
employment advice. Centres will build on existing programmes like Sure Start,
Neighbourhood Nurseries
and Early Excellence Centres, bringing high quality
integrated services to the heart of those communities. The Unit also supports
the existing and planned 524 Sure Start local programmes, 9 mainstreaming pilots
and 46 Mini Sure Starts in rural areas and pockets
of deprivation. To date, Sure
Start local programmes have helped around 350,000 children to have a
better start in life by combining
good quality childcare with early
education, family and health support, and advice on training and
employment. By the end of summer
2003, there will
be 524 local programmes operational around the country, helping
up to 400,000 children in the most disadvantaged
areas, including a third of all
those living in poverty. (For more information on childcare, see articles 11 and
13). The early years
and childcare workforce is predominately female and
considerable activity has been focused on improving the status of the
profession,
including mounting a high profile recruitment campaign, developing a
better-trained workforce and new coherent career and qualifications
pathways, so
there are no unnecessary barriers to career progression.

Early Education

171. Children’s experiences in their early years are critical and the
Government has recognised this period as a distinct phase
of education,
introducing the Foundation Stage for children from 3 to 5 years of age aimed at
developing key skills, complemented
by Early Learning Goals. Challenging
discrimination and stereotypes is part of the Foundation Stage Curriculum. The
Government has
funded a major expansion in free early education. From September
1998, access to a free part-time place with a state, private or
voluntary sector
provider, has been guaranteed to every four year old, if requested by the
parents. Around 70% of 3 year olds currently
enjoy this entitlement and all of
them will by April 2004.

School (5-16 years of age)

172. Details of the National Curriculum, introduced in 1989, are illustrated
in previous reports. The New General Certificate in Secondary
Education (GCSE,
exam-levels taken at the age of 16) in 8 vocational subject areas (including
engineering and manufacturing) were
introduced in September 2002. These new
qualifications are targeted at a wide range of abilities and both girls and boys
are actively
encouraged to take advantage of them. In September 2000, the
Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) framework was set up for
girls and
boys aged 5-16 to enhance their knowledge, skills and understanding in taking
responsibility for themselves; to recognise
the effects of stereotyping,
prejudice and discrimination of any kind (for example racial, gender or
disability) and to develop the
skills to challenge them assertively, to show
respect for others and develop the self-awareness and confidence needed for
life. The
implementation of the PSHE framework is supported by guidance on sex
and relationship education, safety education and financial capability
issued by
the Department for Education and Skills, as well as the guidance issued by the
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
(QCA) in April 2000. The revised
National Curriculum has enhanced opportunities for girls and boys to learn
about issues such as
violence against women. The Government produced Does sex
make a difference? – a gender equality pack for young people,
published to coincide with International Women’s Day, on 8 March 2003. The
pack highlights opportunities within PSHE and Citizenship and includes a
lesson plan on domestic violence to help teachers to explore
the issue in the classroom.

Sport in Schools

173. A joint Department for Education and Skills and Department for Media
Culture and Sport Public Service Agreement target was announced
on 15 July 2002
and seeks to enhance the take up of sporting opportunities by 5-16 year old
girls and boys by increasing the percentage
of children who spend at least 2
hours each week on Physical Education and school sport within and beyond the
curriculum to 75% by
2006. This commitment extends to girls and boys.
Nike and the Youth Sport Trust Girls in Sport Partnership Project,
a school-based project, is assisting teachers to develop forms of physical
education and sport to enable more girls to lead active
lifestyles, by tackling
such issues as changing facilities and sportswear. To date more than 1000
secondary schools have applied
for the Nike and Youth Sport Trust
training programme.

Retention

174. In 2000-01, around 17% of permanent exclusions from schools were
exclusions of girls. The Government is working to address exclusions
from
schools through a number of initiatives. The Government is now focusing on
promoting social responsibility and improving behaviour
and attendance rather
than solely focusing on targets for reducing permanent exclusions. Since 1999,
all Local Education Authorities
have been developing out-of-school provision for
permanently excluded girls and boys. The Government is achieving results in this
area as illustrated by the annual report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector
of Schools for 2002 that highlighted improving standards
in the education of
excluded girls and boys. As part of the Government initiatives to improve school
retention, in October 2001,
the Department for Education and Skills published a
detailed guidance on the education of teenage parents, to help schools and local
education authorities with the practicalities of supporting parents and pregnant
girls of school age. The guidance is widely disseminated
through the internet
(http://www.dfes.gov.uk/schoolageparents)
and has been distributed to all Reintegration Officers and concerned Local
Education Authorities. The Guidance states that pregnancy
should never be a
reason for exclusion from school, a point that is re-iterated in the new
Guidance on Exclusions, published by the Department for Education and
Skills in January 2003. (Also see below and article 12 for details on the
Government’s
Teenage Pregnancy Strategy).

National curriculum assessment arrangements

175. National curriculum assessment arrangements are explained in the
previous report. The assessment helps monitor schools’
success in offering
the full National Curriculum to girls and boys through the annual Office of
Standards in Education (OFSTED) reports,
and identify any gender discrepancies.
The results in 2001 of pupils at Key Stage 1 (age 5-7) showed that in all
subjects, the percentage
of girls who achieved the expected level or above was
higher than the percentage of boys. At Key Stage 2 (age 7-11), girls
outperformed
boys in English tests and for both mathematics and science, girls
and boys had a very similar percentage distribution. In all Key
Stage 3 (age
11-14) core subjects, the percentage of girls achieving the expected level was
the same as or higher than the percentage
of boys. Girls also outperformed boys
in the Key Stage 3 non-core subjects.

Examination achievements at age 15, 16 and 18 (GCSE, GCE Advanced and
equivalent)

176. The proportion of both girls and boys leaving school with a General
Certificate in Secondary Education (GCSE, taken at age 15-16)
or equivalent
qualifications has increased steadily over the last 25 years, with more girls
than boys leaving school with GCSE qualifications.
In 2000-01, 96% of girls and
94% of boys in their last year of compulsory education had graded results
(compared to 82% and 80%,
respectively, in 1975-76). Moreover, there has been a
marked improvement in achievement at GCSE level overall, with girls consistently
outperforming boys in the attainment of higher grades. There has been a 21%
increase from 1985 to 2001 among girls who gained at
least one GCSE (grades A-C)
or Scottish Certificate of Education Standard Grades (1-3) (from 59% in 1985 to
80% in 2001). Since the
1980s girls have outperformed boys at GCE Advanced or A
level examinations (taken at age 18). In particular, girls are achieving
slightly higher level passes in mathematics, physics, computer studies, design
and technology, geography and physical education —
although the number of
girls taking these subjects is lower than the number of boys. The Department for
Education and Skills is working
with the Department of Trade and Industry in
supporting initiatives aimed at encouraging more girls to continue with physics
and
mathematics beyond 16, as well as science and engineering (see below and
article 5 on stereotyping). More girls than boys took A-level
English, social
studies, biological sciences, art and design and French in 2000-01. See table
10.1 in annex 2 (article 10, p. 8).

Higher Education

177. In the last 30 years the UK has witnessed an increase in the numbers of
those participating in higher education. In 2001-02,
over 2.2 million students
were studying within the higher education system, of whom 1.3 million were
studying full time. Over this
period there has been a significant change in the
gender balance of those undertaking higher education. In 1970-71 there were
twice
as many men as women in higher education. Since then, women’s
participation has increased steadily and in 2001-02 women made
up 55% of
enrolled students in higher education — in line with demographic
representation. See table 10.2 in annex 2 (article
10, p. 8). An increasing
emphasis on more flexible learning systems by both further education colleges
and universities, including
credit accumulation and transfer schemes, part-time
studies and summer teaching are particularly beneficial for women returning to
the labour market. Women account for around 73% of participants on Access to
Higher Education courses. Some courses are designed
specifically to help women
gain entry into courses in technology and science, information and communication
technology and financial
management as well as other subjects where women are
traditionally under-represented. Although women are under-represented in certain
sciences and engineering, within the sciences women outnumber men in biological
sciences, veterinary science, agriculture and related
subjects. Moreover,
women’s participation in sciences has increased in recent years, reaching
48% in 2002 while numbers of
men have been relatively static.

Higher Education Qualifications

178. From 1991-92 to 2001-02, the proportion of women undergraduate
qualifiers increased from 46% to 57%. The proportion of women
postgraduate
qualifiers also increased from 43% in 1991-92 to 55% in 2001-02. In subject
categories the greatest differences in numbers
of student qualifiers, were in
the following subjects: Engineering and Technology; Mathematical and Computer
Sciences; and Architecture,
Building and Planning (where men outnumbered women
graduates); Subjects Allied to Medicine; Education; and Social Sciences (where
women graduates outnumbered men). An analysis of the quality of the
qualifications obtained reveals that more women achieved ‘good’
degrees (defined as upper seconds and first class degrees) than men. The
Government is working to encourage female students to graduate
in Engineering,
Technology and Computer Sciences (for details see below and article 5). See
tables 10.3-10.5 in annex 2 (article
10, page 9-10).

Career and education guidance

179. From September 1998, secondary schools in England and Wales are required
to provide a programme of careers education for all
young people aged 14-16,
with the aim to enable girls and boys to develop career management skills so
that they can take advantage
of the opportunities open to them. The DfES is
developing a national specification for careers education and guidance to help
schools
improve the quality and consistency of their careers education
programmes, including specific learning outcomes on career and gender
stereotyping. The Department publishes a range of occupational guidance material
to help pupils choose their career by offering an
insight into particular
industries or areas of work. A conscious effort is made to include case studies
that challenge stereotyping
and encourage young women to consider
non-traditional fields of education, training and employment.

180. In Scotland, a Career Framework paper to encourage greater coherence in
provision for careers education provision was produced
by Learning and Teaching
Scotland in November 2001. This paper highlights the place of career education
in both primary and secondary
schools and suggests a series of possible learning
outcomes. Scottish Ministers statutory obligation to secure provision for
information,
advice and guidance services to young people at school is, since 1
April 2002, delivered through the new national Career agency,
Careers
Scotland.

The Role of Connexions

181. Connexions is a radical new approach to guiding and supporting girls and
boys through their teenage years, so that they make
the best possible transition
to adulthood and working life. The Service has subsumed the role of the former
careers services in England
to provide impartial advice and guidance to young
women and men on learning and career choices. Within the context of a universal
service, a priority of the Service is to reduce the number of 16-18 year olds
who are not in education, training or employment. The
Connexions Service offers
advice to young women and men on educational choices, vocational options,
discrimination and gender stereotyping,
health problems, family and relationship
problems, to enable them to realise their full potential. The Service adopts a
best practice
approach in relation to gender stereotyping that includes the
following elements: (i) the organisation ensures adequate advocacy
and support
mechanisms for those considering “non-traditional” options; (ii) all
resources and materials, including those
produced “in-house”,
reflect the local population and promotes positive images on gender; and (iii)
young women and men
are equipped to recognise and counter discriminatory
behaviour.

182. The Service contributes to achieving social inclusion targets such as
reducing the incidence of teenage pregnancy and drug misuse
(also see article
12). It is a major player in addressing social exclusion among young women and
men – with an emphasis on
detecting early signs and preventing escalation.
The Connexions Service aims to reach out to and help make the links for young
women
and men at the margins, or at risk of being marginalised, helping them
reach their full potential and make a successful transition
to adult life.
Extending opportunity and equality of opportunity is one of the eight key
principles of the Connexions Service. Each
Connexions Service will have to
demonstrate that it meets 5 broad equal opportunity principles outlined in the
Equal Opportunities Best Practice Principles contained in the Business
Planning Guidance used by Connexions Partnerships. These are obviously wider
than gender stereotyping and cover the entire equal opportunities and
diversity
agenda. The Connexions Service works with the Equal Opportunities Commission,
the Commission for Racial Equality and the
Disability Right Commission, amongst
others, to help ensure the Service is designed to meet the needs of all young
people.

Teenage Pregnancy Strategy

183. Connexions has a key role to play in supporting the implementation of
the Government’s Teenage Pregnancy Strategy by working
in partnership with
other agencies to reduce the number of teenage conceptions and ensure that
teenage parents receive the support
they need and are re-integrated into
learning. The Connexions Service ensures young people have access to information
and advice
on sexual health. For example, ensuring young people are aware of
where they can access contraceptive advice in their local area,
are confident in
accessing those services if they need to and are reassured about the
confidentiality arrangements for those services.
It also provides intensive,
specialist support to pregnant teenagers and teenage parents in particular by
helping them to access
health and support services and remain engaged in
learning or return. Guidance on Connexions and teenage pregnancy, as part of the
‘Working Together’ series, was issued in July 2001.
Connexions Service National Unit (CSNU), the Teenage Pregnancy Unit and Sure
Start jointly produced
this. The Working Together – Connexions and
Teenage Pregnancy guidesets out the principles that ought to lie
behind joint working to deliver services to teenage parents. It focuses on the
links that
need to be developed between Connexions and Teenage Pregnancy
Co-ordinators and Re-integration Officers, and in particular, on the
interface
between the role of the Connexions personal adviser and the Sure Start Plus
Adviser and others fulfilling similar roles.

184. CSNU is in the process of finalising an update to the Working
Together – Connexions and Teenage Pregnancy Guide entitled
‘Making a Difference — Emerging Practice – Connexions and
Teenage Pregnancy’. This document is for practitioners working in the
field of teenage pregnancy – both within the Connexions Service and its
partner agencies. It builds on the ‘Working Together – Connexions
and Teenage Pregnancy’ guidance published in
2001 and describes the
crucial role that the Connexions Service is continuing to play in supporting the
achievement of the Government’s
Teenage Pregnancy Strategy. It provides:

• examples of emerging practice from the Sure Start Plus initiative
currently being piloted in 20 areas.

The evidence indicates that innovative and creative solutions are being
developed to meet the challenge of the Government’s
teenage pregnancy
targets. There is a clear emphasis on the importance of multi-agency working and
of collaboration between the Connexions
Service and other agencies, including
Teenage Pregnancy Co-ordinators (TPCs), Reintegration Officers (ROs) and Sure
Start Plus Advisers.
It is envisaged that the publication will be ready for
publication in May. For more information on the Government’s Teenage
Pregnancy Strategy see article 12.

Sexual health and reproductive education

185. Furthermore, for the first time, the Government has provided a National
Curriculum framework to support schools in this area.
Sex and relationship
education, which must include teaching about HIV/ AIDS and other sexually
transmitted diseases, is compulsory
in all maintained secondary schools. To be
effective it must include teaching about relationships, love and care and the
responsibilities
of parenthood as well as sex. Government guidance recommends
that all primary schools should have a programme tailored to the age
and
physical and emotional maturity of the children. Effective sex and relationship
education is essential if young people are to
make responsible and well informed
decisions about their life. It does not encourage early sexual
experimentation but enables young
people to mature, to build up their
confidence and self-esteem and understand the reasons for delaying sexual
activity (for more
information on this see article 12).

Financial support for students

Full-time students

186. Since 1999 the Government has introduced a number of grants for mature
students with children, and in particular lone parents,
to help with the costs
of taking up a course of Higher Education. These include grants to replace lost
benefits, such as school meals
grant and childcare grants (providing grants to
cover up to 85% of the actual costs of formal childcare costs (to a maximum of
£170
per week in 2002-03). In addition, since 1997 the Government has
quadrupled the level of funding provided to Universities and Higher
Education
Institutions to assist students with financial hardship during the academic
year. The Government directs Higher Education
Institutions to give priority to
students with children when administering those funds to cover unexpected cases
of financial hardship
during the academic year.

Part-time students

187. The Government has introduced a range of financial support for part-time
students also, including financial support to help cover
tuition fee costs,
loans to help cover the additional costs of study, and specific grants to help
disabled students undertake higher
education. These new elements of financial
support will be of particular help to women, who remain more likely to have sole
or main
responsibility for caring for children, and will help to remove
financial obstacles which prevent women from taking up Higher Education
opportunities.

Learner support funding

188. With the aim to prevent drop out from education due to financial
problems and help promote equal opportunities, the Government
provides through
the Learner Support Funding (LSF) a mixture of general and specific funding for
young people who are at risk of
not continuing their education. General support
is available for books and equipment and specific funds are available for
childcare,
residential and transport costs. The Institute of Employment Studies
has conducted an evaluation of the learner support funds. Evidence
so far
demonstrates that 9.8% of students (aged 16-19) in further education are
benefiting from the funds, with ethnic minorities,
those with learning
difficulties and the disabled using the funds disproportionately. Recognising
that students with childcare needs
are more likely to have fewer or no
qualifications, the Government is working to provide them with appropriate
childcare funding.
Specific childcare funding arrangements in Further Education
were introduced in 2000 and replaced a tariff points system that rationed
the
funds available. The arrangements have been well received and are proving
effective in general Further Education Colleges, but
were less so in the smaller
School 6th Forms and Sixth form Colleges, mainly due to the
relatively low numbers of students and the allocation formula used to distribute
the funds. Therefore during 2002-03 the LSC tested new arrangements for
providing childcare support to students in these smaller
institutions. This
pilot scheme currently allocates funding of up to £4000 per year for
2002-03, rising to a maximum of £5000
per year in 2003-04.

International comparisons

189. Findings from the recent OECD study of 15 year olds, published in
Knowledge and Skills for Life (OECD, 2001) under the Programme for
International Student Assessment (PISA), illustrate that the UK appears to
provide a learning
environment that benefits both genders equally. Students in
the UK achieve high mean scores in reading, mathematical and scientific
literacy, but with limited gender differences.

Status of women teachers

190. The Teacher Training Agency (TTA) is specifically charged with ensuring
equal opportunities for access to the teaching profession
and to encourage
institutions to provide this in their admission arrangements for students who
have the qualities to become effective
teachers, irrespective of age, sex, race,
experience or background. In order to provide a single national focus for school
leadership
development and research and offer a range of training and
development activities for school leaders, the Government set up the National
College for School Leadership (NCSL), in 2000. Aspiring heads undertake the
National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH)
and the proportion of
women taking this qualification is an improvement on the proportion of women
currently in headship. In the
latest recruitment round for NPQH, 63% of
candidates were women. NCSL is reviewing the take-up of leadership and headship
training
programmes, including by gender and aims to increase the pool of
potential school leaders, particularly those from under-represented
groups. As
one of its actions, it launched the first pilot of Women in Leadership and
Management in November 2002. Women are well represented in, and continue to
be attracted to teaching. In 2001, 69% of full-time regular qualified
teachers
in maintained schools in England were women. Women outnumbered men in
higher-level positions (Head and Deputy-Head level).
In 2000-2001, in the
maintained schools sector in England, 680 men were promoted from full time
regular qualified teacher to head
teacher as opposed to 1410
women[15]. Moreover, the Government
spending plans include an additional £330 million to 2003-04 to underpin
the human resource strategies
in Higher Education institutions that have
undertaken to address equal opportunities for their staff. They are
supported by the sector’s
Equality Challenge Unit, one of whose main
tasks is to improve the recruitment, retention and career progression of
women in academic
life. See table 10.6 in annex 2 (article 10, p. 10).

Continuing Education

Adult and Community Learning (ACL)

191. The ACL is an important element of the Government’s priorities to
tackle poverty, social exclusion and promote neighbourhood
renewal. Almost 75%
of learners under this initiative are women. In 2001, the Government established
the Learning and Skills Council
(LSC) to replace the Further Education Funding
Council and the 72 Training and Enterprise Councils. The LSC is responsible for
planning
and funding all post 16 learning (except Higher Education) in England
including school sixth form provision, further education, work-based
training
for young women and men, and adult and community learning. In 2002, around 58%
of the learners on Council funded Further
Education and work-based learning
provision were females. Although the statistics are not directly comparable,
almost three quarters
of the learners under ACL provision are women. In 2003-04,
the LSC will receive nearly £6 billion for adult learning, which
includes
the key elements of local education authority ACL, family learning,
neighbourhood learning and the Adult and Community Learning
Fund.

192. For more information on Government action in this area including
literacy and numeracy, family learning and lifelong learning
programmes see
annex 1 (article 10, p. 7).

Northern Ireland

193. The Government is implementing a programme of expansion of pre-school
education with the aim of providing a year of free pre-school
education for
every child, if requested by the parents. The statutory curriculum introduced in
1990 is described in the previous
report. The Northern Ireland Council for the
Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment is currently conducting a major review
of the
curriculum with a view to meeting the educational needs of girls and
boys, women and men in this millennium. Relationships and Sexuality
education is
included on a statutory basis within the curriculum through Science, Health
Education and other subject areas as appropriate.

Early Years Development Fund

194. The early Years Development Fund, (EYDF) has £1,467,000 available
annually from the Government and supports initiatives
to improve and extend
early years services, to improve the quality of provisions and practice, and to
advance training and research.
It is focussed on children including children
with special needs, and targeted at families experiencing disadvantage or living
in
areas of high social or economic deprivation including those in rural
isolation. EYDF is administered through the Family Policy Unit,
in the Northern
Ireland Office.

Examination Achievements

195. In Northern Ireland the proportion of girls and boys leaving school with
GCSE-level qualifications or equivalent qualifications
has increased over the
last 13 years, with the rate for girls consistently higher than that for boys.
In 1987-88, 84% of girls and
73% of boys left school with GCSE qualifications,
and by 2000-2001 the comparable figures increased to 96% and 92% respectively.
At GCSE level there has been a marked improvement in achievement generally and
girls consistently outperform boys in the attainment
of higher grades. Between
1987-88 and 2000-2001 the proportion of girls gaining at least one GCSE at
grades A* to C has risen from
67% to 84%, while the comparable figures for boys
were 53% and 73% respectively. At the higher level of GCSE attainment (5+
GCSE’s
A* to C), a similar pattern emerges with girls outperforming boys.
In 1987-88, 41% of girls attained this higher level, increasing
to 66% in
2000-2001, while the figures for boys were 32% and 50%, respectively. Thus,
although both girls and boys have improved,
girls are further ahead of boys.
When attainment in Northern Ireland at A Level and equivalent is examined, girls
still outperform
boys. In 1987-88, 29% of girls left school with at least one A
Level or equivalent whereas 23% of boys left school with the same
qualification.
By 2000-2001, the proportion of girls leaving with this qualification had risen
to 46% while boys had risen to 32%.
The proportion of 16 year olds in Northern
Ireland without GCSE’s is, consistently, the lowest in the United Kingdom,
although
Northern Ireland does have a lot of young people with low
qualifications and therefore a big gap between the lowest and highest attainers.
In response to this the Department of Education is taking steps to improve
standards of literacy and numeracy in boys and girls in
schools and to implement
a support programme aimed at helping underachieving schools.

Initiatives to improve education standards for girls and boys

196. The Government is committed to providing all girls and boys from all
backgrounds and circumstances the best possible opportunity
to develop their
skills. A wide range of school improvement strategies are in place as part of
the School Improvement Programme,
with the aim of raising standards and in
particular to raise literacy and numeracy standards. Such standards are steadily
improving
in the primary sector as measured by end of Key Stage 2 assessment. In
the post-primary sector there is not yet clear evidence of
sustained improvement
but it should be noted that there has been some improvement in Key Stage 3
outcomes for 2000-01 and 2001-02.
The Department of Education, in conjunction
with its educational partners, has carried out an internal review of the
literacy and
numeracy strategy and recognises that there is a need for a more
co-ordinated approach in relation to the implementation of this
strategy,
alongside those for the school support programme, curriculum and assessment
arrangements and educational technology. A
new strategy group, made up of all
the educational partners, has been established to take forward in a coherent
way, the findings
from on-going reviews.

197. Other initiatives aimed at improving the education for girls and boys
include the School Support Programme (SSP), which provides
schools with a period
of intensive professional and modest financial support for self-improvement
measures. For a small number of
post-primary schools, that are serving areas of
social deprivation, a more intensive period of support has been instigated. The
emphasis
remains, however, on empowering the schools to identify and take
control of their own situation and take action to bring about improvements.
The
purpose of the Good Practice Initiative is to provide additional resources to
schools, which have demonstrated success, to enhance
their capacity to achieve
further improvement. The aim is to provide an opportunity for the development,
recognition and celebration
of good practice in schools and for its wider
dissemination throughout all schools. The Discipline Strategy, published in
February
1998, provides for additional support for schools and girls and boys
with all aspects of discipline problems, including truancy,
which may lead to
suspensions and expulsions. Implementation is ongoing and nearly all of the key
elements of the strategy are now
in place.

Women Teachers

198. Women in Northern Ireland continue to form the majority of the teaching
force. At present, 74% of schoolteachers in Northern
Ireland are women. In
Northern Ireland between 1999 and 2001, the proportion of both principal and
vice-principal posts held by women
increased. In 2001 women held 43% of
principal posts and 70% of vice-principal posts in primary schools, compared
with 40% and 68%,
respectively, in 1999. In Northern Ireland the percentage of
female candidates who completed the Professional Qualification for Headship
(PQH
NI) pilot project was 43%.

Further and Higher Education

199. Women now account for over 60% of all NI Higher Education student
enrolments, 61% of undergraduate enrolments and 57% of postgraduate
enrolments.
The number of women enrolling on full time Higher Education courses has
increased by 4% between 1998-99 and 2000-01.
The number of women enrolled on
part-time courses has increased by 10% since 1998-99 compared with a 3% growth
in male part-time
numbers. The majority of Northern Ireland domiciled students
gaining Higher Education qualifications in 2000-01 were female. The
proportions
of male and female first degree graduates attaining first class honours were
broadly similar (7%). A larger proportion
of Northern Ireland women first degree
graduates achieved upper second class honours degrees (52%) than their male
counterparts (40%).

School age mothers

200. The Department for Education was allocated additional resources from the
Executive Programme Children’s Fund in 2001 to
develop a regional
programme of support for pregnant schoolgirls and school-age mothers (SAM
Programme). The programme addresses
the educational, social and personal
development needs of these young women while they adjust to their changed
circumstances. Young
women wishing to continue in education after the programme
are supported with childcare services. A key element of the programme
is the
provision of social support by developing informal peer networks and
‘non-judgemental’ support and advice. Underpinning
the project is
the belief that completion of formal education provides enhanced life
opportunities for both the young woman and her
baby and where the young woman
wishes to continue in education on completion of the SAM Programme she should be
supported in doing
this. By February 2002 some 43 young women had been referred
and programmes arranged at 5 locations. Some 28 young women participated
in the
SAM Programme and 15 received home tuition. A poster campaign and website were
launched in November 2002 with a view to making
the programme more widely known
and accessible.

Scotland

201. There is no statutory national curriculum in Scotland. However, the
Scottish Executive has set National Priorities in Education
providing a national
vision towards which all education authorities and schools are now working. One
of the National Priorities is
to raise standards of educational attainment for
all in schools, especially in the core skills of literacy and numeracy, and to
achieve
better levels in national measures of achievement including examination
results. Another National Priority is to promote equality
and help every pupil
benefit from education. Moreover, the Standards in Scotland’s
Schools etc. Act 2000, puts a duty on education authorities to prepare and
publish an Annual Statement of Education Improvement Objectives,
describing how they will encourage equal opportunities and in particular
observance of equal opportunity requirements in school education.
Local
authorities published their first Statements illustrating how they plan to meet
these objectives in 2001.

202. The main development in school education since the last report is the
introduction of the new National Qualifications (NNQ, post-age16)
courses phased
in from 1999-2000 to replace SCE Higher and Certificate of Sixth Year Studies
(CSYS). Full implementation is not required
until 2004. NNQs are intended to
maximise participation, improve attainment and enable female and male students
to reach their full
educational potential. The Scottish Executive is reviewing
Physical Education in schools and the issue of promoting greater female
participation may feature in that review. As part of its efforts to encourage
young women to take science-related subjects, the Scottish
Executive has
organised a major international conference on science education in schools.
Keynote speakers included senior female
scientists and researchers. The
conference also considered the role of women in science and measures needed to
broaden the appeal
of science for female teachers and female school pupils.

203. Full provision of a free, part-time pre-school education place for all 3
and 4 year olds whose parents required it has now been
achieved. From April
2002, the Standards in Scotland’s Schools Act 2000 placed a new duty on
local authorities to secure pre-school
education for all eligible children, to
cover all 3 and 4 year-olds resident in an authority’s area. The Sure
Start Scotland
programme provides targeted support to families with very young
children aged 0-3 years, with a focus on the most vulnerable and
deprived
families. The programme aims to improve children’s emotional and social
development, health and their ability to learn,
as well as to strengthen
families and communities. £19 million has been allocated to local
authorities in 2002-03 to work in
partnership with health services and relevant
voluntary organisations. Resources available for the Sure Start Scotland
programme
will be £23.1 million in 2003-04, £35 million in 2004-05 and
£50 million in 2005-06. Over 9,000 additional children
received support in
the first year of implementation of Sure Start Scotland (1999-00), increasing to
over 15,000 additional children
in the second year (2000-01). During this period
over 6,000 additional parents were supported.

Attainment

204. The 2000-01 analysis of Scottish School Leavers and their Qualifications
shows that a higher proportion of females than males
leaving publicly funded
schools achieved passes at all levels, except three or more passes at Scottish
Credit and Qualifications
Framework (SCQF) level 7. The Scottish Executive
commissioned a research project, which looked at the factors influencing the
relative
attainment of girls and boys, published in September 2001. Among other
things, the research emphasised that factors affecting pupil
performance are
complex, and that gender issues must be considered within the context of other
sources of inequality, such as social
background. A follow up research project
that will look at the intervention methods employed by education authorities and
schools
to tackle gender inequality will be carried out after 2003.

205. A substantial amount of work has been done to widen access to further
education particularly for those in disadvantaged groups
and over 65,000 new
further education places have been created since 1998-99, while 2,800 additional
funded places have been announced
for Higher Education in the period from 1999
to 2003-04. Participation in further and higher education by women has increased
over
the last three years. In the academic year 2000-01, almost 280,000 women
were enrolled in programmes of study in further education
colleges accounting
for 57% of enrolments; and 105,900 women in programmes in higher education
institutions (56% of enrolments).
This compares with 233,044 further education
college (5%) and 101,364 higher education institution enrolments (55%) by women
in 1998-99.

Child Poverty Package for Lone Parents

206. The Scottish Executive attaches great importance to assisting lone
parents in education and employment. Eradicating child poverty
within this
generation is one of the Executive’s long-term targets, shared with the UK
Government, and one important way to
achieve this is by assisting lone parents,
the majority of whom are female, into further and higher education. This should
lead to
better job opportunities, better incomes and a better way of life for
their children. In July 2001, the Executive launched a three
year (2001-04)
£24 million package of initiatives to assist lone parents take advantage of
further and higher education opportunities
by making it easier for them to
address the difficulties associated with the cost and supply of childcare. This
package is estimated
to benefit around 6,500 students. For the first time in
Scotland, lone parents in full-time higher education can claim a £1,000
grant per annum towards the cost of registered childcare, from an allocated fund
of £8.5 million. To support out of school childcare
provision in
disadvantaged areas, £8 million was awarded to local authorities. These
funds should help to sustain around 1500
to 2000 places. To meet locally
identified needs for lone parents, £7.5 million was made available over the
three years for
further education colleges to widen childcare provision. The
package was launched alongside a new information leaflet for lone parents,
entitled Can I Afford to Go to College?, containing all relevant
information for lone parents. This information is also widely disseminated
through the internet (www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/misc/lpac-00.asp).
Lifelong learning also has a key role to play in enriching the lives of older
people. The Scottish Executive is working to encourage
learning in order to
develop the skills required to lead a fulfilling life and the skills needed to
remain in the labour market.
The Scottish Executive has widened access with over
7000 women from minority ethnic backgrounds enrolling in further education
colleges,
and 5,434 in higher education institutions, in the 2000-01 academic
year.

Wales

207. In line with the Government of Wales 1998 Act the Department for
Training and Education in the National Assembly for Wales is keenly aware of the
role of education and training
in supporting equality of opportunity. The
Learning Country: A Comprehensive Education and Lifelong Learning Programme
to 2010 in Wales detailed the initiatives aimed at supporting and developing
education and training for women and men, girls and boys in Wales. This
document
examines ways to assure equality through wider access and participation and
ultimately to work to ensure equality of attainment
and opportunity in life.
Other major strategic documents have included The Skills and Employment Action
Plan The National Assembly
is currently consulting on a document Learning
Country: Learning Pathways 14-19 (year olds). The aim is to increase
opportunities for young people, enabling them to achieve their full and
individual potential.
The key to this is providing choice and to extend learning
beyond school and college. It is recognised that access for all is important
and
that the issues of gender segregation and stereotyping need to be addressed.

208. Gender imbalance is considered within the context of equal opportunity
in general. Future directions include supporting Governing
Bodies of schools,
colleges and universities to adopt an open and inclusive approach to the
construction of their own memberships
and for the staff teams of those
institutions. In addition to this the Higher Education Institutions are being
encouraged to undertake
equal pay reviews following EOC guidelines. Widening
access and participation is a key overall objective for the Assembly. In both
Higher Education and Further Education, female learners outnumber male (55% of
Higher Education learners are female and 64% of FE).
In both Higher Education
and Further Education (though in Further Education institutions in particular)
women are strongly represented
amongst mature learners. Retention and completion
rates do not materially differ between men and women though there continue to be
marked differences in subject choice. The National Assembly is on target to
achieve its objective of a part time place in early years
settings for all
children at three years of age. Making this available to parents if they require
it, allows those with parental
responsibility the opportunity to pursue career
and educational routes. At the other end of the education path the new Assembly
Learning
Grant offers means tested grant support to learners at further and
higher education levels for both full time and part time students.

Attainment

209. At Key stage 1 to A level, females out-perform males. ACCAC will provide
guidance on the scope within the National Curriculum
for Wales for promoting
equal opportunities and the understanding of diversity. The Annual Report of Her
Majesty’s Chief Inspector
of Education and Training in Wales 2000-01 notes
that education providers are becoming more aware of meeting the needs of all
learners
and generally good progress has been made. The report however, stresses
that improvements need to continue and that the systems need
to be monitored. It
is suggested that the expectations of both teachers and learners continue to be
challenged on gender stereotyping.
New data collection systems across the range
of education and lifelong learning are being introduced to collect data at
individual
learner level. This will give a stronger and more precise evidence
base for formulating future policy and for evaluation of what
works.

Teachers

210. Within the teaching profession women have always formed a large part of
the workforce. Of all teachers in 1990-91 63% were female,
this increased to 68%
in 2001-02. However, they have traditionally remained in the classroom and have
not taken a managerial role,
some headway has now been made against this trend.
Of primary head teachers in 1990-91 41% were female, this increased to 53% in
2001-02, for secondary head teachers the figures effectively doubled from 8% to
16%. Overall for head teachers the figures for females
have increased from 25%
to 35%. In Higher Education institutions 44% of teaching and research staff are
women.

ARTICLE 11: EMPLOYMENT

Women’s participation in the labour market

211. The Government recognises that women make a crucial contribution to the
economy, both in their role as workers and carers, and
is fully committed to
equal opportunities in the labour market, encouraging family-friendly employment
policies, and to improving
childcare packages to encourage those parents who
wish to work to do so. One of the most important changes in UK society in recent
decades has been women’s increased participation in the labour market. The
proportion of women in the labour force has been
increasing and this trend is
likely to continue. In 1971 women of working age (16-59 years) made up 38% of
the labour force, this
figure increased to 45% in
2002[16]. According to the Spring
2002 Labour Force Survey, there are around 12.2 million women of working age in
employment in the UK. Between
Spring 1992 and Spring 2002, the employment rate
for white women in the UK increased by 7% compared with an increase of 2% for
ethnic
minority women over the same period. Moreover, the number of people in
the workforce increased by approximately 240,000 in the year
to May 2002. Of
this increase, 66% were female and 34% were male.

212. 49% of women of working age have dependent children under the age of 19
and their overall activity rate is 69% compared with
76% for women without
children under the age of 19[17].
Between Spring 1992 and Spring 2002, an increase in the proportion of those in
part-time employment took place. The number of working
age people in part-time
employment rose by about 1.2 million, with women contributing around 50% of this
increase. 5.2 million women
of working age (43% of those in employment) worked
part-time March to May 2002. Women in employment therefore tend to work fewer
hours than men, on average 31 hours per week compared with 43 hours for men, but
even women in full time employment work 3.5 hours
less per week than men.

Family-friendly employment policies

213. In recognition of the importance of and growth in women’s
participation in the labour market, the Government is committed
to helping
mothers and fathers balance work and family life. A range of family friendly
rights has been introduced following a review
of maternity and parental rights
in the green paper Work and Parents: Competitiveness and Choice,
published in December 2000. These rights will give more choice to women and
enable business to benefit from a greater contribution
from the workforce by
keeping women’s skills and knowledge in the economy. The Government has
introduced a cohesive package
of parental rights to enable women to balance work
and family commitments. Employees will be protected from dismissal or other
detrimental
action if they exercise any of their rights in the package. The main
elements are:

• Parental leave — Parents of children born or adopted on
or after 15 December 1999 (the date the right was first introduced) are covered
by the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999, and may
qualify for parental leave if they have one year’s continuous service with
their employer. They are entitled to a
total of 13 weeks unpaid leave, which can
be taken up to the child’s fifth birthday or the fifth anniversary of
placement for
adoption (or the child’s 18th birthday if that is
sooner).

• Parents of children born or adopted between 15 December 1994 and 14
December 1999 are covered by the new Maternity and Parental Leave (Amendment)
Regulations 2001, and qualify for parental leave if they have completed one
year’s continuous service with an employer (other than their current
employer) during the period 15 December 1998 to 9 January 2002. They are
entitled to a total 13 weeks unpaid leave, to be taken up
to 31 March 2005 (or
in the case of adoption, the child’s 18th birthday if that is sooner).

• The take-up of parental leave is estimated to be between
3-12%[18]. Taking into account
parents who have now gained entitlements as a result of the 10 January 2002
amendment, the total number of parents
expected to take parental leave each year
is estimated at being between 220,000 and 530,000. This figure represents the
estimated
total number of parental leave rights expected to be exercised per
year, rather than the total number of parents who actually receive
the
right.

• Right to request flexible working: Since April 2003 parents of
children aged under 6 or parents of disabled children aged under 18 have the
right to apply to work flexibly.
Employers will have a duty to consider such
requests seriously.

214. All parents of disabled children born or adopted on or after 15 December
1994, and who have the necessary qualifying length of
service, are entitled to a
total of 18 week’s unpaid leave which can be taken up to the child’s
18th birthday. There
are around 380,000 children under the age of 18 in Great
Britain who have a disability Disabled children generally have to attend
more
medical appointments than other children and this can be difficult for parents
trying to balance caring for their child’s
needs with the pressures of
work. The costs of increasing parental leave entitlement for these parents is
likely to be around £1m
– 2m in total per year.

• Maternity leave: From April 2003 maternity leave for all
employed mothers increased from 18 weeks to 26 weeks regardless of their length
of service.
Additional maternity leave increased to 26 weeks giving most mothers
up to one year off work in total. Statutory maternity pay and
Maternity
Allowance, available for qualifying mothers, is paid for 26 weeks at higher
rates. The contract of employment will continue
throughout maternity (and
parental) leave. Approximately 350,000 mothers each year will benefit from the
increase in maternity leave
and pay.

• Adoption leave: Since April 2003 adopters with a child newly
placed for adoption have the right to 26 weeks paid adoption leave followed by
up to
26 weeks unpaid adoption leave. This right is subject to a 26 week
qualifying employment period and minimum earnings criteria.

• Paternity leave: Since April 2003 qualifying employees will
benefit from two weeks paid paternity leave in the time around which their
partner gives
birth to a child.

• Time off for dependants: All employees are entitled to take a
reasonable amount of unpaid time off to deal with an emergency or unexpected
situation involving
a dependant. This right is available regardless of length of
service.

• The Government will also be taking forward an awareness and
promotional campaign to encourage employers to introduce family-friendly
policies that build on these requirements.

215. Implementation of the Working Time Directive (see previous
report) provides rights to minimum daily and weekly rest periods; rest breaks;
annual paid holidays; a limit of 48
hours a week on the average time which
employees can be required to work (except by voluntary agreement); and
restrictions on hours
worked at night. Implementing regulations came into force
in October 1998. The Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable
Treatment) Regulations 2000 ensure that Britain’s six million
part-timers, 80% of whom are women, can no longer be treated less favourably in
their employment
terms than comparable full-time colleagues, just because they
work part-time. See article 2 for further information.

217. Maternity rights in the UK were extended in 1994, as described in the
previous periodic reports and again in April 2003 as detailed
in article 2 of
this report. The proportion of women returning to work within eleven months of
having a baby has increased from 45%
in 1988 to 67% in 1996. A 2000 Department
of Trade and Industry survey of how parents balance their work, life and home
found that
88% of all working mothers who had taken maternity leave and had a
child under the age of 5 returned to their original employer.

Childcare

218. The implementation of the National
Childcare Strategy is a major component in the Government’s wider
support and encouragement of family friendly working arrangements. There are
particular benefits for women, especially lone parents, as an increase in
quality childcare provision helps them maintain continuity
of employment and
find work, training and employment. The Government’s National Childcare
Strategy was launched in 1998 to
ensure accessible, affordable and quality
childcare in every area. It aims to create places to help 1.6 million children
by 2004.
As a result, at December 2002, more than 647,000 new childcare places
have been created since 1997, benefiting over 1,100,000 children.
Taking account
of turnover, this added more than 367,000 places, for over 688,000 children, to
the stock of places available. Particular
efforts are being made to extend
childcare in disadvantaged areas where provision can still be scare. At February
2003, 160 new Neighbourhood
Nurseries had opened in these areas. There are a
further 1,200 Nursery projects in development, helping to account for a total of
over 50,000 new childcare places. At November 2002, 180,000 middle and
lower income working families were receiving substantial help
with their childcare costs through the childcare tax credit component
of Working Families Tax Credit. (From April 2003, this
assistance
has been made available in a more flexible
form through the childcare element of Working Tax Credit (see article 13
for details).
Increases to the Sure Start Maternity grant from £300 to
£500 in June 2002 will benefit 215,000 low-income families a year,
to help
with the costs of having a new baby.

219. The National Childcare Strategy is complemented by the
Government’s introduction of free part time early education for
4 and 3
year olds. Currently all 4 year olds, and 70% of 3 year olds, are able to enjoy
free early education places. Every 3 year
old will be able to access a free
place by April 2004, in advance of the September 2004 target date. All 4 year
olds have been guaranteed
a free early education place since 1998.

Pay

220. The Government is fully committed to taking practical measures to help
to close the gender pay gap. Since 1975, when the Equal Pay Act came into
effect the full-time pay gap has closed considerably, from 30% to around 19% in
2002. The Government is determined to take
steps to help close the pay gap
further and has conducted research to understand the root-causes of the pay gap
in order to reduce
it. Contributing factors to the pay gap, include: a greater
proportion of women than men work part-time (44% compared with 10%) and
a higher
proportion of part-time jobs are in lower paying occupations; and the effect of
women’s childbirth and caring responsibilities.
Women re-entering the
workforce (as opposed to taking maternity leave or career breaks) do so at lower
wage rates than men who have
had long absences from the labour market.

221. The Government is working to reduce the gender pay gap through a variety
of measures, including the equal pay questionnaire,
working with the EOC to
promote equal pay reviews, providing trade unions with additional funding for
training representatives in
equal pay issues and by requiring the Civil Service
to undertake pay reviews by end of April 2003.

222. The Civil Service is committed to undertake equal pay reviews and
prepare Action Plans. Action Plans representing 81% of the
Civil Service have
now been received by the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office is undertaking the
equal pay review for the Senior
Civil Service, representing the top 3500 Civil
Servants.

223. The EOC and Fair Pay Champions are currently taking forward work to
promote and share good practice in the food and soft drink
manufacturing and
retail finance sectors. Future work is planned in other sectors, including
Further Education. The Government provided
the EOC with £100,000 to prepare
a model for voluntary pay reviews, which was launched in July 2002. A separate
system for small
businesses has been developed. Also provided additional funding
of £151,867 (on top of the initial £145,000) to trade unions,
for
training representatives in equal pay issues in the workplace.

224. The Employment Act 2002 (see article 2) makes it easier for women who
have been discriminated against to take up equal pay cases
by simplifying the
existing procedure, and introducing a questionnaire procedure that will help
resolve matters in the workplace.
The Employment Act includes a number of
measures to help tackle the other main causes of the pay gap; women’s
lower level of
work experience, and the part-time pay gap.

225. The Castle Awards, launched in March 2002, are designed to recognise
steps taken by employers of all sizes and in all sectors
to promote equality of
opportunity between men and women and to address the issues of pay inequality.

The Equal Pay Forum, organised by Opportunity Now and the EOC is promoting
equal pay reviews among employers. Approximately 190 firms
have joined the
Forum. Members must have committed to carrying out or already undertaken an
equal pay review.

226. Other Government initiatives to reduce the pay gap include the National
Minimum Wage (see article 2 for details) as well as measures
to tackle job
segregation (see articles 5 and 10 for details). For example, the National
Curriculum ensures that both girls and boys
study the full range of subjects and
therefore have a broad base on which to make career-related choices. Women
comprised 55% of
undergraduates in academic year 2001 (see article 10) and, in
time, the impact of greater numbers of more highly qualified women,
with greater
earnings potential, should be reflected in higher actual earnings. The Careers
Service is required to operate an equal
opportunities policy that questions
stereotypical career choices. The Part-time Workers’ Regulations
(see article 2) will contribute to a narrowing of the pay gap, as it
requires employers to accord part-time workers conditions and
contracts in-line
with their full-time counterparts. This should, in turn, have a positive impact
on the pay gap as the majority
of part-time workers are women. The Parental
Leave Regulations and reform of maternity rights will also enable employees
to reconcile their work and family lives (see above).

New Deal for Lone Parents

227. As part of the measures to tackle poverty among women, the Government
has intensified its efforts aimed at improving lone parents’
living
standards by facilitating their access to the labour market. In this context,
the Government introduced the New Deal for Lone
Parents (NDLP), in 1997, that
aims to help and encourage lone parents to improve their prospects and living
standards by taking up
and increasing paid work. In November 2001, NDLP was
extended to include all lone parents not working, or working fewer than 16 hours
per week. Over 90% of those benefiting from the programme are women. NDLP offers
active case management through dedicated Personal
Advisers (PAs). The PA will
offer advice on job-search, childcare, training and in-work benefits, and
provide an in-work support
service to help lone parents make the transition into
employment.

228. The Government is committed to ensuring rigorous analysis and evaluation
of recently introduced policies. In this context, evaluation
of the New Deal for
Lone Parents is being conducted by independent researchers, as well as being
monitored by the Department for
Work and Pensions. A full programme of research
is underway, with many findings already available. A quantified measure of the
impact
of the national NDLP programme is to be published in 2003. However,
approximately half of those participating in national NDLP go
on to get jobs.
Evaluation of the national programme has shown a number of benefits of NDLP,
beyond simple job outcomes. Participants
reported high levels of satisfaction
with NDLP, with most of the praise directed towards their PA. NDLP helped lone
parents find
work, change their working arrangements, find a place in an
education or training programme, or set up a business. These tangible
outcomes
were often combined with less tangible improvements such as improved confidence
in relation to ability and skills, and increased
motivation.

229. As at January 2002, NDLP has supported over 318,000 lone parents and
132,730 jobs have been gained through NDLP. Although by
far the largest
proportion of NDLP participants have joined of their own accord, increasing
numbers are choosing to participate following
a mandatory work-focused interview
with a lone parent personal adviser. PA meetings are intended to increase
participation in NDLP
by making lone parents aware of the help and support
available to them. PA meetings are mandatory for certain groups of lone parents
who claim Income Support. Lone Parent PA meetings were introduced in April 2001
to new and repeat claimants with a youngest child
over 5 years and 3 months of
age, and existing IS claimants with children aged between 13 to 15 years. From
April 2002, PA meetings
were extended to new and repeat claimants with a
youngest child aged 3 to 5 years and regular claimants with children aged 9-12
years.
PA meetings will be rolled out to new and repeat claimants with a
youngest child aged 0-3 years and stock claimants with a child
aged 5-8 yrs from
April 2003, and to stock claimants with a child 0-5 yrs in April 2004. There is
also a rolling programme of the
introduction of six and twelve-monthly review
meetings. Evidence shows that the introduction of PA meetings is having a
positive
effect on NDLP participation: the proportion of those having a PA
meeting who subsequently join NDLP is approximately 32%, compared
to a take-up
rate of approximately 6% before they were introduced.

Women in Business

230. Women entrepreneurs make an increasingly important contribution to the
business sector. The 2002 Labour Force Survey estimates
that women constitute
around 27% of the self-employed in the UK. Women are most likely to establish
businesses in service sectors,
with nearly 50% of businesses in this sector
started by women. A key Government objective is to promote enterprise for all.
As part
of this agenda it is important to ensure that services for start-up
businesses are delivered effectively in disadvantaged areas and
to those in
under-represented groups, including women and ethnic minorities. As part of
this, the Government’s Small Business
Service is taking the lead in
identifying and removing barriers in the provision of those services and
spreading best practice.

231. The Small Business Service and Government – the Way Forward
(published in December 2002) set out a new policy framework for a
Government-wide approach to helping small firms. It identifies seven
core
strategies as key drivers for economic growth, improved productivity and a wider
involvement in enterprise for all. One of the
seven core strategies is
“encouraging more enterprise in disadvantaged communities and
under-represented groups”.

232. The Small Business Service, in partnership with Prowess (a UK-wide trade
association for the promotion of women’s enterprise
support), has led the
development of a cross Government strategy for women’s enterprise which
will focus primarily on the business
support needs of women starting and growing
their own businesses. The strategy, launched on 8 May 2003, has also had an
input from
the Devolved Administrations. The framework aims to incorporate good
practice examples, guidelines and measurable outcomes aimed
at various business
support providers.

233. Policy support for women can be successful in increasing both the number
of start-ups and the long-term growth potential of women-owned
businesses. For
example, the Government runs national schemes such as the Small Firms Loan
Guarantee Scheme that has been of particular
help to women who may lack a proven
track record in raising finance. Moreover, the Small Business Services Phoenix
Fund (launched
in November 1999) encourages entrepreneurship in disadvantaged
areas and within groups that are currently under-represented in terms
of
business ownership, including women. The Fund’s £96 million budget to
March 2004, in July 2002 was allocated an additional
£50 million for
2004-05 to 2005-06. The bulk of these additional resources will be used to
continue support for the community
development finance sector and for business
support activities currently funded through the Development Fund element of the
Fund.
The Development Fund is running over 90 projects encouraging innovative
approaches to supporting entrepreneurship in disadvantaged
areas and
under-represented groups. All of the projects are opened to women and 15 of them
focus specifically on women.

234. Women are playing a key role in providing much needed services and
employment through social enterprises. A social enterprise
is a business with
primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that
purpose in the business or in
the community, rather than being driven by the
need to maximise profit for shareholder and owners. One sector of social
enterprises
which is often highlighted as an example of how women are making a
positive contribution is that of childcare. This activity provides
both a
service to and employment for other women and enables parents to return to the
workplace. Other areas of activity in social
enterprises where women play a key
role are those of care work, training & education, tourism and recycling.
The Social Enterprise
Unit was set up in DTI to provide a focal point for
strategic decision-making on social enterprise across Government.

Older women in employment

235. We are delivering a range of measures to tackle age discrimination in
employment and help women and men over 50 back into work
and remain in work for
longer. In this context, the Government has committed to implementing the age
strand of the European Employment Directive by 2006, when domestic
legislation will come into force outlawing age discrimination in employment and
training. In the meantime,
through the Age Positive campaign, the
Government is vigorously promoting to employers the business benefits of age
diversity, so that legislation when it
is introduced will simply confirm
existing good practice. The campaign is challenging employers’ prejudices
and perceptions
and aims to achieve a culture change and help employers prepare
for the coming legislation. At the heart of the Age Positive campaign
is the
Code of Practice on Age Diversity in Employment. The code is aimed at
employers and sets the standard for non-ageist approaches to recruitment,
selection, training, promotion and
retirement. Moreover, a major programme for
people over 50 looking for work, New Deal 50 plus, was rolled out
nationally in April 2000. It is a voluntary programme designed to help long-term
unemployed and economically inactive
women and men over 50, who have been
claiming work related benefits for 6 months or more, back into paid employment.
Some 81,000
women and men have been helped into work through New Deal 50
plus. Following the success of New Deal 50 plus, complemented by
other programmes, the employment rate of the over 50s has increased every year
for the last five years. For men
the rate has increased by 3.2 percentage points
in the five years to spring 2002, from 38.3% to 41.4%. For women during the same
period the rate has increased by 4.3 percentage points, from 30.4% to 34.2%.

Women with disabilities

236. In December 2001, over 6.9 million people of working age were long-term
disabled people in Great Britain of whom 3.3 million
were disabled women. In
2001, 19% of employed people were long-term
disabled[19] people of whom 47% were
female (lower numbers reflect the fact that women aged 60-64 are not included in
the working-age population).
The Government is offering employment and training
programmes to women and men with disabilities. Through its network of Disability
Service Teams, Job-Centre Plus is committed to opening up career opportunities
to more disabled women and men and helping employers
recruit, retain and develop
disabled employees.People facing complex employment-related barriers
associated with a disability are supported by Jobcentre Plus Disability
Employment
Advisers (DEAs) who provide a wide range of employment services to
women and men with disabilities. DEAs also play a key role in
providing
specialist advice and help to employers to encourage them to adopt good
employment policies and practices in the recruitment,
retention, training and
career development of women with disabilities, including advice on practical and
financial help available
including adaptations to premises or the provision of
special aids to employment under the Access to Work programme. For more
information
on Government action in this area see annex 1 (article 11, p.
9).

Unpaid Work

237. The UK Office for National Statistics produced an experimental Household
Satellite Account (HHSA) for the year 2000. This measured
and valued the outputs
of household production under seven headings – housing, transport,
nutrition, clothing and laundry services,
childcare, adult care and voluntary
activity. These were then linked to the relevant inputs of purchased goods and
services, household
capital (dwellings, vehicles and household appliances), and
labour as measured by the UK 2000 Time Use Survey. This enabled the calculation
of the value added by household members in the production process – the
effective return on their labour. Household production
was worth approximately
78% of adjusted GDP in 2000. Time spent in household production was calculated
by adding together the total
hours spent on activities associated with the above
headings, recorded both as primary and as secondary activity.

238. The survey results, including children over the age of 8 years, were
grossed to the UK population using estimates based on the
Labour Force Survey.
The estimates for childcare and adult care included an imputation for unrecorded
passive care. Estimates of
time spent in household production can be broken down
by gender, as shown in the table 11.2 in annex 2 (p. 12), but the value of
the
output cannot be disaggregated without further research into the relationship
between inputs and outputs. Females spent 27% of
their total hours –
including primary and secondary activities and passive care — on household
production and 7% in paid
work, while males spent 20% of their total hours on
household production and 12% in paid work. If we look only at primary
activities,
both males and females spent approximately 27% of their time in
household production and paid employment, with males spending 13%
of their time
on household production, compared with 19% of females’ time. These gender
differences are not as stark as those
suggested by other research, because of
the activities included in these calculations. See tables 11.1-11.2 in annex 2
(article 11,
p. 12).

Eliminating discrimination — health and safety at work

239. For information on eliminating discrimination in the right to protection
of health and to safety in working conditions see annex
1 (article 11, p.
9-10).

Women migrant workers

240. See Article 9.

Northern Ireland

Childcare

241. In September 1999, the pre-devolution Department of Health and Social
Services, Department of Education and Training and Employment
Agency published
Children First, the Northern Ireland Childcare Strategy. This extended
the National Childcare Strategy to Northern Ireland, adapting it as
appropriate but keeping the three key aims of raising the quality of childcare,
making childcare
more affordable and improving access to childcare. In addition
to the measures set out in the strategy, the Department for Employment
and
Learning pays childcare allowances to lone parents participating in a range of
vocational training programmes, and in 2001 introduced
childcare grants as part
of a new regime of financial support for students. In 2001, the Department for
Employment and Learning,
the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland and the
four Childcare Partnerships in Northern Ireland jointly commissioned research
on
childcare and women’s access to employment, training and education. The
research will be used to forecast the demand for
and the supply of different
types of daycare in Northern Ireland over the next five to eight years.
Employers for Childcare is both
a campaign and a service for employers, to
enable them to help their female and male employees and potential employees to
find childcare
solutions. In order to help raise the quality of childcare, the
Department for Employment and Learning has introduced more favourable
conditions
in some vocational training programmes for women and men who are training in
childcare (e.g. for National Vocational Qualifications
in Early Years Care and
Education and in Playwork).

Women in business

242. Recognising that women in business are under-represented, the Government
is undertaking a number of initiatives to increase their
representation in the
business sector. In 2001, a report, Mapping of Support Provision for Women in
Enterprises in Northern Ireland – A Strategic Framework for the
Future, aimed at understanding the barriers that potential women
entrepreneurs experience, was carried out. The report provides information
on
the outcomes of a consultation process (June-September 2001) with women
entrepreneurs at different stages of business development
as well as support
providers and other stakeholders. Invest Northern Ireland (INI) is a
Non-Departmental Public Body of the Department
of Enterprise Trade and
Investment that came into existence in April 2002. INI has produced a strategic
framework to encourage women
in business to grow and expand their existing
operations as well as facilitate women’s entry into business. The
framework developed
is all-inclusive with a focus on effective and consistent
communication of information to all women in Northern Ireland interested
in
setting up their own businesses. The Spring 2002 labour Force Survey estimates
that 17% of the self-employed are women.

Public Sector Training Programmes

243. March 2001 figures show that 45% of participants on Training and
Employment Agency (now part of the Department for Employment
and Learning)
programmes and services were female. The Department is committed to promoting
equality of opportunity in all of its
programmes and services and has in place
measures such as: monitoring the use of its services and participation in its
programmes
as appropriate with the aim to identify any participation rates or
take-up rates that are lower than expected, and their causes;
and development of
programmes for women managers with the aim of increasing the numbers of women
managers in positions of leadership
in Northern Ireland.

The EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation

244. Under the PEACE 11 Programme (2000-2004) women as a group are encouraged
to seek funding for a range of activities. In particular
resources are available
to improve women’s access to and participation in the labour market and to
improve entrepreneurship
among women.

Scotland

Childcare

245. The Scottish Executive’s Childcare Strategy aims to provide
affordable, accessible, good quality childcare for children
aged 0-14 in every
neighbourhood, to help meet the needs of working parents. The Scottish Executive
is providing £16.75 million
of Childcare Strategy funding in 2002-03 and
£ 19.25 million in 2003-04 to local authorities who
are responsible, with Childcare
Partnerships, for making decisions on its
disbursement to meet local needs. Out of School Care (OSC) has an important role
to play
in labour market growth and family prosperity by helping enable people
back into work. A cross-sectoral working group will be set-up
to make
recommendations on issues affecting the delivery of OSC services.

246. A network of Childcare Partnerships has been created, one in each local
authority area, with members from the public, private
and voluntary sectors.
Their task is to identify local needs for childcare, plan expansion of services
to meet the needs identified
and commit themselves and their resources to
achieving this. Childcare Partnerships are responsible for giving informed
direction
to local authorities on the allocation of Childcare Strategy funding.
ChildcareLink is funded as part of the Scottish Childcare Strategy,
and provides
information on all aspects of early education and childcare. ChildcareLink
operates a national telephone information
line and a website. The New
Opportunities Fund (NOF) first round programme 1999-2003 made £25.3 million
available for out-of-school
childcare projects in Scotland. A further £14.5
million will be available from 2003-06 in the third round quality childcare
programme, that will also support new and existing childcare projects,
especially in disadvantaged areas and also those projects
meeting the needs of
parents who are in work, studying or training. The Executive is looking at the
existing sitter service network,
which provides childcare in the parent’s
home to support unusual working patterns for low income families, as a possible
means
of extending eligibility to the Childcare Tax Credit in Scotland. From
April 2003 sitter services were regulated by the Scottish
Commission for the
Regulation of Care as childcare agencies.

247. Under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001, the Scottish
Executive established the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (Care
Commission) in April 2002, and new national
care standards for early education
and childcare and for childcare agencies have been published. The Care
Commission is responsible
for registering and inspecting childcare provision in
the public, private and voluntary sectors against these care standards. The
Act
provides for the regulation of the social services workforce, by establishing
the Scottish Social Services Council that became
operational from October 2001.
The Council will regulate the education and training of social services workers
and raise standards
through the publication of codes of conduct and practice.
Registration of the early education and childcare workforce will not commence
before 2005. From April 2003, inspection of centres providing pre-school
education that HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) conducted,
have been replaced
with inspections undertaken by the Care Commission working jointly with HMIE.
These inspections apply to all kinds
of centres offering pre-school education,
including nursery schools and classes.

249. Scottish Enterprise has in place a broad range of initiatives to provide
advice, assistance and training for women starting a
business or considering
doing so. Examples include: the Women into the Network (WIN) programme; various
Training and Development
programmes; Women’s Business Clubs; Women into
Business Programme; coaching seminars scottishbusinesswoman.com;
Women’s Business Directory; Women’s Technology Centre. In December
2001, Scottish Enterprise commissioned an independent
review of its Business
Birth Rate Strategy. The enquiry, which reported in June 2001, confirmed the
importance of supporting more
women into business. It strongly recommended the
development of positive and proactive initiatives to encourage women. The issue
is now established as a clear priority for the Scottish Enterprise Network and
is being addressed through its New Approach to Entrepreneurship
initiative,
which was launched on 23 January 2002. The aim is that in 3 years 40% of new
business start-ups assisted by the Scottish
Enterprise Network are to be women
led. This will account for 3,600 new business starts in 2004-05.

250. A number of additional initiatives are already underway to encourage
women into enterprise: in February 2002 a Microcredit Programme,
aimed primarily
at women, was launched across the Scottish Enterprise Network; a second Women
into Business conference was held in
Glasgow in May 2002, attracting over 1,000
women; the Scottish Enterprise Premier Adviser Programme is being developed to
increase
awareness of the women into business programme and ensure that business
advisers throughout the Network understand the issues and
hurdles faced by
women;, A new access to funding programme was introduced by Scottish Enterprise
in September 2002. Business Investment for Growth (BIG) offers specialist
help to womenseeking to raise finance to grow their business; Scottish
Enterprise have also launched in September a case study brochure promoting
successful female entrepreneurs, funded jointly by the Executive; and a new
format to the Small Business Gateway has been introduced,
integrating existing
web services for women entrepreneurs and for Business Mentoring Scotland
programme. Scotland’s other development
agency, Highlands and Islands
Enterprise, also attaches a high priority to helping women into business.

Pay

251. The Scottish Executive launched the Close the Gap campaign in
March 2001 to raise awareness about the pay gap between women and men and
encourage activity to close the gap. The EQUAL
Community Initiative,
part-financed by the European Social Fund, is a programme to develop innovative
means of combating all forms
of discrimination and inequality in the labour
market. One of the themes of the programme is targeted at reducing gender gaps
and
supporting job desegregation. The programme involves two stages: one to
develop the partnership and second to deliver the actual
programme. The Scottish
Executive is a partner in a development partnership under this theme, with the
Equal Opportunities Commission
designated as the lead partner.

Wales

Childcare

252. Out of school childcare funding has increased since 1999 with the New
Opportunities Fund (NOF) committing £14.3 million
with the aim of creating
22,000 new childcare places. The NOF has enabled a total of 332 new clubs that
have created 23,236 childcare
places in Wales. Furthermore, £2 million has
been made available for supporting the sustainability and workforce development
of out of school childcare provision. Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids’ Club
(CPCKC) was awarded an Assembly Government contract in
July 2001 to become the
Out of School Childcare Club Organisation for Wales. The aim of CPCKC is the
promotion, development and expansion
of high quality, affordable, accessible
clubs throughout Wales, as well as offering ongoing support. As of October 2002,
there are
866 out of school clubs in Wales. The Assembly Government funds
development workers in CPCKC, who work closely with NOF to assist
these clubs to
obtain funding.

253. The Welsh Assembly Government announced a new Childcare Action
Plan in May 2002, based on the recommendations of the Childcare Task Force.
The Task Force (comprised members from a range of statutory
organisations) was
charged with reviewing progress and developing the Assembly’s strategy for
childcare. The Plan is part of
the Assembly’s programme aimed at the
welfare of children, the care sector and economic regeneration. The key aims of
the Plan
include integrating childcare with Sure Start and other services
through a unified fund and development of integrated centres; removing
barriers
to parents who wish to enter the labour market or education; and maximising all
sources of funding for childcare.

Women in business

254. The Entrepreneurship Action Plan for Wales (EAP) has identified
specific groups, amongst them women, that are under-represented in terms of
starting up in business and that
require special measures of support and
encouragement in enterprise development. An integral project of the Plan is
Women’s Enterprise Wales (WEW) set up to address the needs of
potential female entrepreneurs pan-Wales. It is managed through Chwarae Teg and
is a pre-business
start-up programme for women interested in setting up in
business but who face various barriers which makes it difficult to work
immediately with the existing mainstream service provision. It aims to increase
the number of women moving into self-employment by
delivering a range of
outreach support services in order to enable them to actively engage with
mainstream. In its first year, Women’s
Enterprise Wales has provided
assistance to over 600 women and created approximately 100 new businesses across
Wales.

ARTICLE 12: WOMEN’S HEALTH

255. The Government has made tackling health inequalities a priority and
recognises that gender is an important aspect of health inequalities.
A Health
Inequalities Unit (HIU) has been established in the Department of Health
responsible for driving delivery of the government’s
Health Inequalities
Strategy working across government departments and agencies at local, regional
and national levels. As promised
in the National Health Service (NHS)
Plan, published in 2000 a national health inequalities Public Service
Agreement target has been set to reduce inequalities in health outcomes
by 10%
as measured by infant mortality and life expectancy at birth by 2010. Other
Department of Health related inequalities targets
include the reduction of
conception rates of girls under 18 by 15% by 2004 and 50% by 2010, and the
reduction of smoking rates among
manual groups from 32% in 1998 to 26% by 2010
to narrow the health gap.

256. Building on earlier work both to understand the health inequalities
problem and to consult across sectors on actions to tackle
health inequalities,
the government undertook a cross cutting Review on health inequalities. The
Review recognises that a range of
factors can have an impact on the take up of
services and facilities including, for example, gender and ethnic group.
Tackling Health Inequalities: Summary of the 2002 Cross-Cutting Review
was published in November 2002 and is available at http://www.doh.gov.uk/healthinequalities.
The HIU is leading work to develop an All-Government Delivery Plan
focusing on the action needed to deliver the strategy. It will set out what must
be achieved on tackling inequalities and by whom,
the time-scales involved, and
how progress will be monitored. The Plan is due to be published during 2003 and
will be available on
the health inequalities website.

257. In order to address difficulties in accessing health services by ethnic
minority women, the Government is working to facilitate
their access to health
services and quality care by taking into account their needs, priorities and
experiences through a number
of approaches including the National Service
Frameworks, the NHS Plan and the Inequalities in Health
Programmes. These include innovative programmes that involve places of
worship, such as Gurudwara, Mosques and Temples, to promote health and
rehabilitation services. The Department has been funding black and minority
ethnic organisations for a number of years to build their
capacity to undertake
health work. These organisations play a major role in tackling inequalities in
health at the local level by
designing health promotion programmes to reach
black and minority ethnic groups. The Department of Health has also
funded the production of videos with supporting materials on breast screening
and cervical cytology
in Asian languages and English for the African Caribbean
and Asian women. The resources take into account the lifestyle of the targeted
groups.

Family Planning Services

258. Family planning services are available from specialist clinics and
family doctors (GPs). Family planning advice and contraceptives
are free to all
under the National Health Service. In 2001, approximately 75% of women in Great
Britain aged between 16 and 49 used
some form of contraception — a figure
that has remained fairly constant over the last 15 years. In England, improving
access
to contraception, sexual health advice, pregnancy testing and NHS
abortions are key strands of the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy and the
Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV (see below for details on these
strategies).

Teenage pregnancy

259. Concerned at the level of teenage conception (see table 12.1 in annex 2,
article 12, p.13), and recognising the consequences
of early motherhood
(including, lower educational achievement and higher levels of poverty), the
Government has intensified its efforts
to address this issue and there are
encouraging signs as the teenage conception rate is falling (see below). The
Government conducted
a study on the complex reasons for, and set out a clear
strategy to address teenage pregnancy. In June 1999, the Government launched
a
ten-year National Teenage Pregnancy Strategy for England that aims to:
halve the rate of conceptions among girls under 18 years of age by 2010, with a
reduction of 15% by 2004;
set a firmly established downward trend in the
conception rates for girls under 16 years of age; and increase the participation
of
teenage parents in education and employment to 60% by 2010. Some of the other
UK administrations are developing their own strategy.
The National Teenage
Pregnancy Strategy is tackling the causes and consequences of teenage
pregnancy through an integrated and multi-faceted approach that includes:
joining
up action at national, regional and local level; a national campaign to
help young people resist peer pressure, make their own choices
and take
responsibility; better prevention by improving Sex and Relationships Education
and the provision of contraceptive advice
services for young people; as well as
better support for pregnant teenagers and teenage parents to increase their
participation in
education, training and employment and reduce their risk of
social exclusion.

260. A cross-Government implementation unit, the Teenage Pregnancy Unit, was
established in 1999 to drive delivery of the Strategy.
Every local authority
area has an agreed local teenage pregnancy strategy and rolling three-year
action plan that sets out how the
local authority and health bodies will work
together to implement the national Strategy. Implementation of local strategies
is managed
by a network of local co-ordinators supported by regional
co-ordinators. In addition to establishing the infrastructure for delivery,
key
achievements since the Strategy was launched include:

• A national advertising campaign aimed at young people began in
October 2000, focusing on the themes of choices and taking
control and
responsibility around relationships and sexual behaviour, including resisting
peer pressure. Evaluation has shown that
77% of 13-17 year olds recognise the
campaign materials.

• New guidance for schools on Sex and Relationships Education is being
implemented.

• Best practice guidance on the provision of effective contraception
and advice services for young people has been issued, against
which local
services have been audited.

• A Young People’s Forum has been established as a tool for
consulting young people about the Strategy.

• Providing personal support for pregnant teenagers and teenage parents
on health, education, benefits and housing issues. For
example, nine pilot areas
are testing how best to provide childcare for teenage parents, to help them
return to education, training
or employment. Six housing pilots are testing how
best to support teenage parents. The Housing Corporation has approved funding
for
over 1,500 new units of supported housing for teenage parents.

261. A four-year evaluation programme is underway to provide valuable
information not only about what is having an effect but also
how it works. An
Independent Advisory Group on Teenage Pregnancy was established in 2000 to
advise the Government and monitor the
overall success of the strategy. In June
2002, the Government Response to the First Annual Report of the Independent
Advisory Group
on Teenage Pregnancy was launched, building on the
recommendations made by the Advisory Group to set out a new forward action plan
for the next phase of implementation. All 30 of the action points set out in the
Teenage Pregnancy Strategy are being implemented.
There are very encouraging
signs that the Strategy is making an impact. As mentioned above, data for 2001
published in February 2003
shows that under 16 and under 18 conception rates are
down by 10% since 1998 (i.e. from 47 per thousand women aged 15-17 in 1998
to
42.3 per thousand women aged 15-17 in 2001; and 8.8 per thousand women aged
13-15 in 1998 to 7.9 per thousand women aged 13-15
in 2001). The strategy
relates to both boys and girls — the first time a national strategy has
done this both in relation to
prevention through sex and relationships education
and contraceptive advice, and in relation to supporting young fathers.

Maternity Services

262. The Department remains committed to the principle of putting women at
the centre of maternity services planning.Progress has been made in
developing readily available information sources, aimed at ensuring women are
getting full information and
choices throughout pregnancy and childbirth. For
example, the Pregnancy Book, given free to all first time mothers,
contains comprehensive information and guidance for a healthy pregnancy, labour
and giving
birth as well as life with the new baby. Moreover, the primarily
midwife-led, community-based maternity service offering women greater
choice,
control and continuity of care, is now largely mainstream NHS practice.Women on the whole are happy with the maternity service they receive and the
latest figures for infant mortality rates, peri-natal
mortality rates and
maternal deaths all show a continuing downward trend. It is therefore safer than
ever before to have a baby.
An important improvement in maternity services,
currently under development, is the Children’s National Service Framework
(NSF),
announced in 2001. The NSF will set national standards of care for
antenatal, intrapartum (childbirth) and postnatal services. In
addition the
National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) have issued guidelines on
important clinical procedures such as induction
of labour, electronic foetal
monitoring. Further guidelines are being developed on caesarean section and
routine antenatal care.
Moreover, in 2001, the report of the Sentinel Audit of
Caesarean Section, commissioned by the Department of Health, was published.
The
findings from the Audit will help inform development of the NICE guidelines as
well as the maternity element of the National
Service Framework.

Abortion in the United Kingdom

263. Abortion in England, Wales and Scotland is regulated by the Abortion
Act 1967, as amended, as described in the previous report. After remaining
steady since 1988, the abortion rate rose in the period 1996-1998
and has
stabilised again during the reporting period, with about 175,000 abortions to
residents of England and Wales in each
year.[20]. A National Sexual
Health and HIV Strategy (see below for details) was issued in 2001, followed
by an Implementation Action Plan in 2002, setting out actions to tackle
inequalities in access to abortion in England. Also see teenage pregnancy
above.

Abortion in Northern Ireland

264. The Abortion Act does not extend to Northern Ireland. The law for
Northern Ireland is found in the Offences Against the Persons Act 1861,
the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland Act) 1945, and certain case law.
Whilst the issue has not been devolved to the Northern Ireland Assembly, the
mechanism to do so is contained
in the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
Government Ministers are aware of the great strength of feeling on this issue,
and the divergence of opinion that exists and the
calls, by some persons, for a
review of the legislation. The Government will not impose any change in Northern
Ireland on what is
recognised as a most sensitive issue. Any change to the law
on abortion could only come about with broad support from a cross-section
of the
people of Northern Ireland. On 20 June 2000 the Assembly debated the issue and
clearly voted against extension of the 1967
Abortion Act to Northern Ireland.
The Family Planning Association (FPA) has applied for judicial review, the
outcome of which will
be known shortly. In 2001, 1,577 women travelled from
Northern Ireland to England and Wales for an abortion.

Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS

265. Between January and December 2001, there had been 4909 new HIV diagnoses
made and 674 AIDS diagnoses. New HIV diagnoses in 2002
are expected to be in the
region of 6,500. During the reporting period, there has been an increase in the
number of women diagnosed
with HIV in the UK as a result of increased testing of
pregnant women (see below) and differences in health seeking behaviour. However,
the number of women diagnosed with HIV in the UK remains relatively small
(around one fifth of the cumulative total of HIV diagnoses
were for women). In
2001, 38% of reported HIV infections and 33% of AIDS cases were in women (see
tables 12.7 and 12.8 in annex 2,
p. 14-15). Promoting safer sex is still key to
prevention efforts and HIV testing is being encouraged to allow prompt access to
treatment.
The use of highly active antiretroviral therapy has reduced the
progression to AIDS and death in HIV infected people since the mid-1990s.

Antenatal HIV testing

266. Over 250 women had their infection diagnosed in 2001 as a result of
antenatal testing. In the UK, almost all HIV infected children
have contracted
the infection from their mothers during pregnancy, childbirth or via
breastfeeding. The Government is working to
reduce the number of HIV infected
children through delivery of effective interventions (drug treatment, elective
Caesarean delivery
and avoidance of breastfeeding) aimed at reducing the risk of
transmission. National targets and objectives were set in 1999 involving
the
offer and recommendation of an HIV test to all pregnant women throughout
England. It is intended that by increasing the uptake
of antenatal HIV testing
to 90%, and by increasing the proportion of HIV infections diagnosed prior to
delivery to 80%, an 80% reduction
in the proportion of children acquiring HIV
infection from their mothers should be achieved by December 2002. Implementation
of universal
antenatal testing has resulted in substantial improvements in
recent years in maternal diagnosis rates. The 80% diagnosis target
has already
been met in London, where the prevalence of HIV infection is highest. Increased
detection of HIV infections in expectant
mothers means that fewer babies are
becoming infected. It is estimated that infection was prevented for around 100
babies born to
infected mothers in 2001.

The National Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV

267. With the aim to intensify its efforts in this area, the Government has
set out plans to prevent the spread of HIV and other sexually
transmitted
infections in the National Strategy for Sexual Health and HIV, published
in 2001. In order to reduce the prevalence of undiagnosed HIV infections, a
national standard has been proposed, whereby
all those attending sexual health
clinics should be offered an HIV test as part of screening for sexually
transmitted infections.
The strategy also includes a goal to reduce the number
of newly acquired HIV infections by 25% by 2007. The strategy highlights the
importance of HIV prevention for those groups most at risk of HIV including men
who have sex with men and people from high prevalence
countries overseas.
Existing national HIV health promotion work for gay men will continue and the
Department is strengthening its
national HIV health promotion work for African
communities. Gay men remain the largest group in the UK affected by HIV/AIDS. In
line
with the Strategy the Department of Health launched in November 2002 a new
public awareness campaign on sexually transmitted infection.
The Sex Lottery
campaign is aimed at 18-30 year olds and aims to increase awareness of STIs
and the importance of condom use. £4 million over
two years has been
allocated to the campaign so far. The Sex Lottery campaign builds on the
success of the Teenage Pregnancy campaign (which also includes STIs). See
section on Teenage Pregnancy Programme
for more information on approaches
addressing sexual and reproductive health, including sexual violence.

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)

268. FGM is a brutal practice usually undertaken on girls between the ages of
four and 10. It can have consequences for the health
of the victim that can last
her lifetime. The extent FGM is not known in this country, but based on the
number of people who have
settled here from parts of the world where the
practice is endemic it has been estimated that 74,000 first generation immigrant
women
have undergone FGM and as many as 15,000 girls might be at risk of FGM in
the UK.

269. FGM is illegal in the UK under the Prohibition of Female Circumcision
Act 1985. The Government is working to extend the provisions of the 1985
Act. Under the Female Genital Mutilation Bill, a Private Members Bill
introduced by Ann Clwyd MP on 11 December 2002, will, if it becomes law, restate
and extend the provisions
of the 1985 Act and give them extra-territorial effect
(see article 16 for details). The Department of Health condemns the practice
and
in this is supported by the leading bodies in the medical field, all of which
have issued guidance or position statements on
FGM. In 2000, a doctor had his
name removed from the medical register for offering to perform FGM on a young
girl. Furthermore, the
Government continues to fund the voluntary organisation,
FORWARD, the leading body working in the FGM field in this country, with
an
annual grant to support its core activities, as well as two projects: one
dealing with training for the range of professionals
who work with children from
the practising communities; and a second project to work with these communities
on the extent of FGM,
linked practices, such as early marriage and mobilising
men in those communities. There are seven specialist clinics in the NHS that
treat women and girls who have been mutilated. These clinics all have trained
and culturally sensitive personnel who offer a range
of healthcare services for
these women and girls including reversal surgery. Services are confidential and
in many cases interpreters
are available. These clinics are open and a woman can
attend these clinics without a referral from her own doctor.

Circulatory system/heart disease

National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease (NSF for
CHD)

270. The Government, through the NSF is actively addressing gender-based
inequalities requiring health professionals to take into
account the special
needs of women and be aware of differences in the presentation of symptoms. The
National Service Framework for
Coronary Heart Disease, published in 2000, is an
evidence-based participatory (stakeholders include clinicians, patients,
managers
and Government) blueprint for how coronary heart disease services (in
England) will be modernised over the next ten years. A key
aim of the NSF for
CHD is to tackle inequalities, both in incidence of disease and in access to
services. Its underlying principle
is that appropriate interventions should be
offered to female and male patients who show symptoms or are at risk of
developing heart
disease, regardless of age, gender, race, disability, sexual
orientation or geography. For information on Government action to decrease
the
incident of strokes see annex 1 (article 12, p. 11).

Cardiovascular disease and cancer prevention

271. In order to reduce premature deaths from these diseases, the Government
has been actively engaged in reducing the number of women
and girl smokers,
including pregnant women and women from ethnic minorities. Another key element
is the improvement of nutrition
and the promotion of physical activity aimed at
reducing obesity. See annex 1 (article 12, pp. 11-13) for details on Government
measures
in these areas.

Breastfeeding

272. Breastfeeding for a prolonged period can reduce the risk of mothers
developing pre-menopausal breast cancer. The Government is
fully committed to
the promotion of breastfeeding. The report of the 2000 quinquennial Survey on
Infant Feeding Practice, published in May 2002, showed that between 1995
and 2000 breastfeeding rates increased from 66% to 69%. The greatest change
since
1995 has been among those in the least advantaged social groups. Moreover,
mothers now introduce solids later than in 1995. The Department
of Health is
promoting breastfeeding through:

• The Infant Feeding Survey, the results of which are summarised
above.

• National Breastfeeding Awareness Weeks are held annually, with the
aim of normalising breastfeeding through the provision
of materials for the NHS.

• A Local Infant Feeding Audit (LIFA) has been piloted in 16 Trusts.
This will enable trusts to take a ‘snap shot’
of information to find
out whether local changes in practices are effective. Final reports were
received end March 2002.

• The National Service Framework for Children will take forwards policy
on breastfeeding.

• A Global Strategy on infant feeding recommending exclusive
breastfeeding for six months has been put forward by the World
Health
Organisation. The UK supports this recommendation.

• The NHS has a target to deliver an increase of two percentage points
per year in breastfeeding initiation rate, focussing
especially on women from
disadvantaged groups.

Cancer screening

Breast cancer and screening

273. The UK was the first country within the European Union, and one of the
first in the world, to launch a nation-wide breast cancer-screening
programme
based on computerised call and recall in 1988. Women aged 50-64 are invited for
breast screening by mammography every three
years. Women over 70 can request
free three yearly screening. The programme is being extended for women aged 65
to 70 over the next
three years. The current service will also be upgraded by
offering two-view mammography at all screening rounds leading to an estimated
43% improvement in the detection of small cancers. As at March 2001, 70.2% of
women aged 50-64 invited for breast-screening in England
had been screened at
least once in the previous three years (69.3% at March 2000); for women aged
55-64, coverage improved from 75.6%
to 76.2%. In 2000-01, 75% of women aged
50-64 invited for screening were screened and 1.3 million women of all ages were
screened
within the programme. 8,345 cases of cancers were diagnosed in women
screened. Women invited to participate in the NHS Breast Screening
Programme
(NHSBSP) need to understand the potential benefits and harm in doing so to be
able to make an informed choice about whether
they wish to proceed. That is why
information provided to women must be honest, comprehensive and understandable.
As foreseen in
the NHS Cancer Plan, the Government launched a national
information leaflet on breast screening on 31st October 2000 that
also can be viewed at www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk. Aware
that women with learning disabilities often do not have the information and
support they need to decide whether or not to
attend for breast screening the
Government has produced a good practice guidance and a new information leaflet
for women with learning
disabilities (published in November 2000).

Cervical cancer and screening

274. The UK was the first country within the European Union, and one of the
first in the world, to launch a nation-wide cervical screening
programme in 1988
based on computerised call and recall. Women aged 20 to 64 are invited for a
free cervical screening test every
three to five years. Women aged over 65 are
invited for screening if their previous two tests were not clear or if they have
never
been screened. As at March 2001, 83% of women aged 25-64 had been screened
at least once in the previous 5 years. In 2000-01 3.6
million women were
screened, the majority after a formal invitation from the screening programme.
Laboratories examined an estimated
4.1 million smears. Over 8,000 lives were
saved by the programme between 1988 and 1997. Death rates from cervical cancer
fell by
42% between 1988 and 1997. Latest figures show that there were 1,039
deaths from cervical cancer in 2001, compared to 1,106 in 1999.
Strict quality
assurance is operated within the screening programme at a cost of £3.5
million a year. The performance of laboratories
is kept under review. As
foreseen by the NHS Cancer Plan, the Government launched a national
information leaflet on cervical screening on 31st October 2001 (www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk). Good
practice guidance and a new information leaflet for women with learning
disabilities were published in November 2000.

Diabetes

275. The Government recognises the gender-based differences of the disease
and has developed policies that take into account these
differences. For
information on the National Service Framework for Diabetes Standards see
annex 1 (article 12, p. 13).

Sickle cell anaemia

276. The NHS Plan sets out the Government’s commitment to
introduce by 2004 a new and effective screening programme for women and children
including
a new national linked antenatal and neonatal programme for
haemoglobinopathies (HbO) including sickle cell disease. For further information
on Government action in this area see annex 1 (article 12, p. 13).

Mental health

277. As many as one in four people will experience a mental health problem at
some time in their lives. Studies in the general population
suggest that the
overall prevalence of mental illness does not differ significantly between women
and men. For specific disorders,
however, clear gender differences emerge:
anxiety, depression and eating disorders are more common in women; substance
misuse and
personality disorders are more common in men.

National Service Framework for Mental
Health

278. Mental health is one of the three top clinical priorities in the NHS.
The Mental Health National Service Framework (MHNSF) was published in
September 1999. It sets out a ten-year programme, backed by additional funding,
to put in place new high
standards of care in every part of the country
(England). The NHS Plan, published July 2000, makes a commitment to
reduce inequalities and to develop a comprehensive health service designed
around the
needs and preferences of individual patients, their families and
carers. The Plan sets out that by 2004, services would be redesigned
to ensure
there are women-only community day services in every health authority. In March
2001, the Government announced that a women’s
mental health strategy would
be developed to help services better address the needs of women across a wider
range of services. A
women’s mental health strategy consultation document
was published in Autumn 2002, building on existing commitments to:

• the development of a strategy for women’s secure care, with
women being a priority for moving out of high secure care
into more appropriate
services.

The National Institute for Mental Health in England (NIMHE) was established
in 2001 to assist front line staff in health and social
care to implement policy
and improve outcomes for people using mental health services. NIMHE programmes
emphasise the importance
of recognising the diversity of communities including
the need to address issues of gender, race and culture.

Drugs and alcohol

279. For information on Government action targeting alcohol and drug misusers
including the ten-year drugs strategy Tackling Drugs to Build a Better
Britain and the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse see annex 1
(article 12, p. 13-14).

280. In 2002 the national drugs strategy was reviewed and the Updated
Drugs Strategy 2002 was produced.

Older women

281. Taking into account the changing demographics, the Government is
intensifying its efforts in order to provide services that respond
to the
different needs and priorities of older women and men, and ensuring equal access
to such services. The Government has appointed
a National Director for Older
People’s Health and Care Services, in November 2000, with the task of
helping the NHS to achieve
real improvements in the standard of care for older
women and men. At the heart of the Government’s approach is person-centred
care and delivering services that enable older people to maintain and regain
their independence. In this context, the National Service Framework for Older
People (NSF), published in March 2001, has been set up to focus specifically
on addressing the health and care needs of older women and
men. It sets new
national standards and service models of care across health and social services
for older women and men, ensuring
that their individual needs are taken into
account, and are supported by newly integrated services with a well
co-ordinated, coherent
approach. The NSF focuses on rooting out age
discrimination, providing people-centred care, promoting older women and
men’s
health and independence, and fitting services around older women and
men’s needs. For more information on progress made in
this area see annex
1 (article 12, pp. 14-15).

Northern Ireland

282. A new public health strategy Investing for Health, published in
March 2002, contains a framework for action to improve health and well-being and
reduce health inequalities, including
gender-based inequalities. The strategy is
based on partnership working amongst Government Departments and public,
voluntary and
community bodies. The actions within Investing for Health
includethe development or review of a number of lifestyle health
promotion strategies that will benefit women including breastfeeding, sexual
health and teenage pregnancy.

Cancer

283. Breast cancer accounts for one in three cancer cases in women, one fifth
of all new cancers diagnosed in women and almost one
sixth of cancer deaths in
women. The death rate from breast cancer is declining as a result of greater
public awareness, the breast
screening programme and earlier treatment. All
women in Northern Ireland aged between 50 and 64 are routinely invited for
screening
every three years and it is proposed to extend this programme to
include women 65 to 70. In priorities for action (2002-03) targets
for uptake
have been set at 75% by March 2003. The uptake rate in Northern Ireland in
2000-01 was 71.4%. Following the issue of new
guidance to Boards in November
1997 there has been a gradual increase in the uptake rates for cervical cancer
screening from 68.2%
in 1999 to 70.1% in 2001. In the priorities for action
(2002-03) targets for uptake have been set at 72% by March 2003 and 75% by
March
2004. In 1999, 36 women died from Cervical Cancer in Northern Ireland and the
year 2000 saw a further reduction in deaths to
30.

Breastfeeding

284. There has been a significant increase in breastfeeding rates in Northern
Ireland from 45% in 1995 to 54% in 2000. A Breastfeeding
Strategy for Northern
Ireland aimed at promoting and supporting breastfeeding was published in 1999.
An Implementation Group has
been established to oversee its implementation. The
key areas identified for action are co-ordination of breastfeeding activities,
commissioning support for breastfeeding mothers, raising public awareness and
improving training for health professionals. Actions
to date include the
appointment of a breastfeeding co-ordinator, participation in breastfeeding
awareness week and a conference to
highlight the benefits of breastfeeding. In
addition two hospitals and one Health and Social Services Trust in Northern
Ireland have
achieved World Health Organisation “Baby Friendly”
status.

Sexual health

285. The Government recognises the importance of women’s access to
information and advice on sexual health and family planning
services. A Working
Group has been established to develop a Sexual Health Promotion Strategy. The
Strategy, which will address issues
such as reducing the rates of sexually
transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancies will also look at issues
relating to education
and access to information and services and will build upon
recent sexual health promotion strategies developed by Health and social
Services Boards.

Family Planning

286. In Northern Ireland family planning services are provided mainly by
general medical practitioners, community and hospital family
planning clinics,
and by voluntary organisations. Women can therefore choose the provider from
whom they wish to access the services.
In the year 2000-01 approximately 150,000
women attended a general medical practitioner or family planning clinic for
family planning
services.

Teenage Pregnancy and Parenthood

287. Northern Ireland is committed to reducing the number of unplanned
teenage pregnancies. The Programme for Government envisages
the promotion of
sexual health and the reduction of the number of unplanned births for mothers
under the age of 20. A Strategy and
Action Plan aimed at reducing the number of
unplanned births among teenage mothers and minimising the adverse consequences
of those
births to teenage parents and their children was published in December
2002. The strategy takes account of the responses to the consultation
report of
the Working Group on Teenage Pregnancy and Parenthood entitled Myths and
Reality. The Strategy and Action Plan sets targets for the reduction of the
number of unplanned births to teenage mothers and includes actions
to improve
communication, promote education opportunities and the provision of
user-friendly services. An Implementation Group has
been established to oversee
and drive forward the actions outlined in the Action Plan. Other initiatives
during the period include
funding packages in 2001 and 2002 for projects from
the statutory, voluntary and community sectors to support action on reducing
teenage pregnancy. A total of 62 projects received funding and these mainly
concentrated in areas with high rates of teenage pregnancy.
The projects
included parent/child communication, young people’s sexual health services
and training in communication for those
dealing with young people. In 2001-02
the Health Promotion Agency for Northern Ireland has updated information on
rights and benefits
for pregnant women and parents of young children in Northern
Ireland in The Pregnancy Book and Birth to Five. These were published by
the Agency in association with Health Promotion England and are available to
first-time mothers through
Health and Social Services Boards.

Drugs and alcohol

288. For information on Government action to reduce the number women and men
smoking, drugs and alcohol misuse among women, and the
number of deaths from
Coronary Heart Disease see annex 1 (article 12, pp. 15-16).

Scotland

289. The White Paper, Towards a Healthier Scotland, presents the
framework for the Scottish Executive approach to public health improvement. The
White Paper aims to improve life circumstances
(social inclusion, jobs, income,
housing, education and environment) that impact on health. It also aims to
tackle lifestyles such
as poor diet and lack of exercise, tobacco, alcohol and
drug misuse that lead to illness and early death, as well as tackle what
can be
prevented (such as heart disease, cancer and accidents) and to improve child,
mental, oral and sexual health. Tackling inequalities
is the overarching aim of
the White Paper, including gender-based inequalities. Implementation of the
White Paper’s programme
is being facilitated over the period 2000-04 by a
£100 million Health Improvement Fund. Other funds are facilitating targeted
interventions in specific areas of the overall programme, while general health
spending is now allocated in a way that fully recognises
the influence of
deprivation and remoteness on healthcare needs. In Scotland, Health Boards
assess the needs of women, men, boys
and girls and provide services in
accordance with those needs. The Priorities and Planning Guidance for the NHS in
Scotland for 1999-2002,
provides the overall policy context for the planning and
delivery of health services and focuses the NHS in Scotland on the most
important national priorities. The three clinical priorities for the NHS in
Scotland are mental health, coronary heart disease and
stroke, and cancer.

290. In December 2000, Our National Health: a plan for action a plan for
change, the Scottish Health Plan, further committed NHS Scotland to ensuring
that its staff were “professionally and culturally equipped
to meet the
distinctive needs of people and family groups from ethnic minority
communities”. A comprehensive “stocktake”
of how local health
services were responding to these challenges was published in December 2001
under the title Fair for All. Subsequently, a Health Department letter
(HDL) developed the reports recommendations into a three-year programme of
targets for
delivering culturally competent health care in every NHS board area.
The HDL covers five main areas: energising the organisation;
human resources;
community development; access; and demographic profile. NHS organisations are
held accountable for delivering this
programme of work through a Performance
Assessment Framework that is part of NHS Scotland’s Accountability Review
process.
The Chief Executive of every NHS organisation in Scotland has also
personally pledged their commitment to this programme by signing
the Commission
for Racial Equality’s Leadership Challenge. Moreover, to support
the development of, and monitor the delivery of culturally competent services,
an Ethnic Minority Resource
Centre has been established in the Public Health
Institute for Scotland.

Teenage Pregnancy

291. “Towards a Healthier Scotland” set a headline target of a
20% reduction in the rate of pregnancy among 13-15 year
olds for the period
1995-2010. A £3 million ‘Healthy Respect’ National Health
Demonstration Projects is operating
in the Lothian area. It aims to radically
transform teenage attitudes to sexual health and sexual relationships, reduce
the level
of teenage pregnancies and prevent the spread of sexually transmitted
infections amongst Lothian’s young people. It is made
up of 12 projects
which focus on 3 main issues: (1) Teenage Pregnancy — conception, birth
and termination rates (2) Sexually
Transmitted Infections (3) Young
people’s self-esteem and confidence. In relation to teenage pregnancies
two targets have been
set: To reduce the pregnancy rate amongst 13-15 year olds
by 20% by 2010 and to reduce termination of pregnancies by 50% by 2010
without
increasing the teenage birth rate (1998 baseline).

292. In April 2000 a grant of £150,000 was made to Brook in Scotland
(subsequently renamed Caledonia Youth) for start-up costs
for four new centres
in Aberdeen, Dundee, Glasgow and Falkirk. The Scottish Executive is also
committed to a substantial contribution
to running costs. The first new Centre,
in Glasgow, opened by the Minister of Health and Community Care Malcolm Chisholm
in May 2002.
The second, in Dundee, began business in October 2002.

Sexual Health

293. The Scottish Executive plans to develop a national sexual health
strategy for Scotland. One of the strategy’s main aims
is to tackle the
high level of unwanted teenage pregnancies in Scotland. An Expert Group has been
established to assist in the development
of the strategy, by harnessing the
expertise of respected practitioners at both local and national level. This
strategy is in its
final stages of preparation and is intended to be put out to
consultation in 2003.

294. For information on the Government’s actions to meet the needs of
women suffering from mental health, includingthe Framework for Mental
Health Services in Scotland; as well as measures to tackle alcohol and drugs
misuse, and smoking see annex 1 (article 12, pp. 17-18).

Wales

295. The 1998 White Paper NHS Wales — Putting Patients First
sets out the Government strategy for the NHS in Wales. The Government aims to
ensure that women and men have equal access to health
services. In this context,
the White Paper proposed the establishment of National Service Frameworks for
service priorities. In October
1998, the Government launched the Strategic
Framework for Public Health in Wales that provides a framework for public
health development taking into account, amongst other priorities, equal access
to health services.

296. Well Being in Wales, issued for consultation in September 2002,
builds on the foundations set by Better Health Better Wales. It develops further
the
Assembly Government’s work to improve health and reduce inequalities
through an integrated approach to policies and programmes.
Professor Peter
Townsend endorses this integrated approach in his report Targeting Poor Health.
Well Being in Wales reinforces the Assembly Government’s efforts to
tackle the underlying socio-economic determinants of poor health across the
Assembly Government’s policy areas in partnership with the NHS, local
government and other organisations including the voluntary
sector organisations
and community groups. Well Being in Wales provides the direction and
national context for Local Health Boards and Local Authorities to produce in
conjunction with other organisations,
including the voluntary sector, and
through consultation with local people the local health, social care and well
being strategies
which will see promoting health, and well being as important as
ensuring effective and efficient health services for their local
populations.

297. Action to address inequalities in health and the factors that cause
them, was one of its priorities and a range of action has
taken place as a
result. This includes ‘Targeting Poor Health’, a major review
of the way resources are allocated to the NHS and action which has led to work
on statistics on equity of access to
health services and action to tackle the
wider determinants of health in conjunction with the Assembly Government’s
other policy
divisions. Action has also included the development of the
Inequalities in Health Fund to stimulate and support action to tackle
inequalities and the factors that cause them, including inequalities in access
to health services. The Fund’s initial focus
has been on developing and
supporting local partnership to reduce coronary heart disease. The Fund, which
has a budget of £5
million in 2003-04 is currently supporting 66 projects
in disadvantaged communities across Wales.

Family planning services and sexual health

298. The National Assembly for Wales launched the consultation document, A
Strategic framework for promoting sexual health in Wales, in January 2000.
Following consultation the Strategy’s action plan was issued in October
2000. The Strategy aims to improve
the sexual health of the population in Wales,
narrow sexual health inequalities; and to enhance the general health and
emotional
well-being of the population by enabling and supporting fulfilling
sexual relationships. The action plan outlines five objectives:
ensure that all
young people receive effective education about sex and relationships as part of
their personal and social development;
ensure that all sexually active people
have access to good quality sexual health advice and services; reduce rates of
unintended
teenage pregnancy; reduce incidence and prevalence of sexually
transmitted infections; and strengthen monitoring, surveillance and
research to
support future planning of sexual health services and interventions.

299. Key achievements of the strategy include: new sex and relationships
education guidance for schools; the development of local
sexual health
strategies and service specifications; a grant scheme which supports innovative
provision of sexual health advice and
free condoms to those most vulnerable to
sexually transmitted infections and teenage pregnancy; public education
campaigns on sexually
transmitted infection prevention, and emergency hormonal
contraception; targeted HIV health promotion campaigns for gay men; and
the
development of an All-Wales sexual health network.

Maternity Services

300. In June 2002 ‘Delivering the Future in Wales’ was launched.
Its aim is to use the full potential of midwives in collaboration
with others,
in developing a maternity service which provides a safe and positive experience
for women and their families and a rewarding
career for midwives. The
underpinning values of the strategy are: women centred care, maintaining
normality, developing the role
of the midwife, improving quality of care and
maintaining standards. It is the 4th briefing paper under the banner
of ‘Realising the Potential’ A strategic framework for nursing,
midwifery and health
visiting into the 21st century.

Breast-feeding

301. A strategy was developed and launched in May 2002 ‘Investing in a
Better Start: promoting Breasting in Wales’. To
support this strategy the
Welsh Assembly Government will be appointing an all Wales co-ordinator whose
role will be to promote the
implementation of the strategy.

Cancer

Breast cancer

302. Last report (Breast Test Wales (BTW) was established in 1988 to
undertake the Welsh element of the NHS Breast Screening Programme
(NHSBSP). It
has contributed to a reduction in Wales by 2001 of deaths from breast cancer by
32% over those occurring when it was
found. Like the rest of the NHSBSP, BTW
invites women between the ages of 50 and 64 to be screened once every 3 years,
with those
over 64 being screened on request. In 2001 (the latest year for which
figures are available), BTW screened 65,786 women with an uptake
rate of 77%. A
Charter Mark was awarded to BTW in 1995 and this was re-affirmed in 1999 and
2001. In 2000, the Welsh Assembly Government’s
Minister for Health and
Social Services asked BTW to start putting in place the manpower and resources
to enable the introduction,
from 2001, of two view mammography for all routine
screens undertaken within the NHSBSP. This was to improve yet further the
quality
and reliability of screens undertaken and this was implemented across
Wales to time. The Minister also asked that once this had been
achieved that BTW
should start to work towards the age range of those receiving routine screening
being extended from 50 to 64 to
50 — 70. Additional ring-fenced funding
was provided for both these initiatives (£1.6m in 2003-04) and BTW and the
Welsh
Assembly Government are currently considering options for implementation
of this extension with a view to it being introduced in
a phased approach from
2003.

Cervical cancer screening

303. Cervical Screening Wales was set up in April 1999 following the
publication of The National Service Framework for the Cervical
Screening
Programme in Wales in April 1999. This framework ensures that all women have
access to a high quality service that operates
to publish national standards and
is monitored and outcome evaluated. It also ensures that there is a single point
for accountability
and performance management. The target age group for cervical
screening is women aged 20 to 64. The normal recall interval is three
years. In
2001, Cervical Screening Wales carried out a one-year pilot study to evaluate
the use “liquid based cytology”
for cervical screening. The results
of the pilot are being reviewed by the National Institute for Clinical
Excellence, together with
the results of similar pilots in England and Scotland.
This will enable NICE to decide whether or not to recommend that this technique
is introduced across Wales as the routine screening test for cervical
cancer.

304. For Government action on mental health and Mental health and Hepatitis B
among women see annex 1 (article 12, p. 18).

306. In October 1999 Working Families’ Tax Credit (WFTC) replaced
Family Credit as the main support mechanism for low paid working
parents. Over
1.3 million families are now receiving WFTC over 500,000 more than received
Family Credit. These families are on average
receiving £40 more than they
would under Family Credit. WFTC currently helps 689,000 female lone parents to
supplement their
earnings. All maintenance is disregarded as income in the
calculation of awards for WFTC. Over half of families supported by WFTC
are lone
parent households. Couples can choose whether the credit is paid to the mother
or the father. In 2002-03 WFTC guarantees
a minimum income of £227 a week
for parents moving into full time work.

307. From April 2003 WFTC has been replaced by two new tax credits, the Child
and Working Tax Credits. The Child Tax Credit will provide
a single, seamless
system of income related support for families with children. It will bring
together the assistance currently provided
through the Children’s Tax
Credit, the child elements of the WFTC, the Disabled Person’s Tax Credit
(DPTC) and Income
Support or Jobseeker’s allowance. The Child Tax Credit
will provide a secure stream of income for parents that do not depend
on the
employment status of the parents. The Child Tax Credit will be paid directly to
the person with main responsibility for the
care of the children in the family,
usually the mother. The Working Tax Credit provides additional support to low
paid workers and
replicates support for working families through the adult
elements of WFTC. From April 2003 the Child and Working Tax Credits together
guarantee a minimum income of £237 a week for parents moving into full time
work. The structure of the new tax credits offer
several advantages over WFTC
for women. For example, dual earner couples can combine their hours so no one
person has to work full
time to get the 30 hour element of the WTC, allowing
them to choose a better balance of paid work and caring for their children.
WFTC
tapers from net income (after tax/National Insurance Contributions) whereas new
tax credits taper from gross income (before
tax/ National Insurance
Contributions). The latter lowers average tax rate for dual earner couples,
allows second earner to take
home more pay, and improves second earner work
incentives.

308. In August 2000, the entitlement conditions for Maternity Allowance were
changed so that entitlement was based on earnings rather
than National Insurance
contributions allowing an additional 16,000 low paid women to receive maternity
pay for the first time. These
changes also increased Maternity Allowance by 15%
for around 11,000 self-employed women who received less benefit than employed
women.
The Green Paper, Work and Parents: Competitiveness and Choice, published
by the Department of Trade and Industry in December 2000,
outlined a new package
of family friendly policies, including major improvements to maternity rights.
This was kick started in April
2002 when the standard rate of Statutory
Maternity Pay and Maternity Allowance was increased by 20% from £62.20 to
£75
a week. Further improvements to these benefits took place in April 2003
when the standard rate was increased to £100 a week
and the payment period
extended from 18 week to 26 weeks. These and other important changes for working
parents were introduced by
the Employment Act 2002 and subsequent regulations
— see Articles 2 and 11.

Taxes and family benefits

309. In its 1999 Budget, the Government launched a major reform of the
personal tax allowances to focus resources on families with
children. The
married couple’s allowance was generally withdrawn from 2000-01. The
Government, however, felt it right to protect
older couples so it was retained
when one of the spouses was born before 6 April 1935. The additional personal
allowance (the equivalent
relief given to single people or unmarried couples who
were responsible for children), and the widow’s bereavement allowance
for
deaths after 5 April 2000 were also abolished. The allowances were replaced by
the children’s tax credit from April 2001.
It is available to married or
unmarried couples and to single parents with children under 16 living with them.
There is one credit
per family. It can reduce the amount of tax that a family
pays in 2002-03 by up to £529 (well over twice the level of the standard
married couple’s allowance). In order to concentrate the benefit on
families with lower incomes the children’s tax credit
is gradually
withdrawn from families where there is a higher rate taxpayer. From April 2002,
to help families with a new baby, there
is a higher rate of children’s tax
credit in the year of their child’s birth worth up to £1,049 a year.

310. In 2003, the Government will introduce the new Child Tax Credit. This
will reform the system further by bringing together the
children’s tax
credit and other income-related support to families with children into one
seamless system. The Government believes
that work is the best route out of
poverty for families with children. The Government’s reforms, including
WFTC, have eased
the burden on parents seeking to balance work and childcare,
making it easier for one parent in the couple to remain at home to care
for
their children. Reforms to the structure of support including the introduction
of the new tax credits improve the financial returns
to work for parents seeking
to re-enter employment. The childcare tax credit element of WFTC introduced in
1999 will be continued
in the Working Tax Credit. The childcare tax credit
element currently supports 70% of eligible childcare costs up to limits of
£200
for two or more children and £135 for one child. The childcare
tax credit element of WFTC supports 175,100 low and middle-income
families,
enabling them to balance work and family commitments better. The new tax credits
will provide help with childcare costs
to families further up the income
distribution. For example, a family with two children, maximum childcare costs
and an income of
£35,000 a year can, as a result of the Working and Child
Tax Credit, receive over £50 a week in financial support. This
will be of
particular benefit to women who want to work, but who find it difficult to
afford quality childcare.

Income support

311. People whose resources are below prescribed levels may be able to claim
Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.
Income Support is a
non-contributory benefit that is available to people who work fewer than 16
hours or more a week or whose partner
works fewer than 24 hours a week. Families
claiming Income Support receive a Family Premium and there is a part-time
earnings disregard
of £10 a week for a couple or £20 a week for a lone
parent. Around 961,000 lone parents receive Income Support, the vast
majority of
whom are women. Families and lone parents also receive additional premiums with
Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.
An earnings disregard of £25 a
week applies in these benefits for lone parents, and there is a £15 a week
maintenance disregard.
From April 1997 the additional premium paid to lone
parents in Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance, Housing Benefit and
Council
Tax Benefit was incorporated into the Family Premium to create a higher
rate of Family Premium for lone parents called Family Premium
(Lone Parent). The
Family Premium (Lone Parent) in Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit is
higher than the corresponding premium
in Income Support. From April 1998 new
lone mothers received the same rate of Family Premium as mothers with partners,
but existing
recipients continue to receive Family Premium (Lone Parent) as long
as they continue to satisfy the entitlement conditions.

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

312. From October 2002, the provision limiting entitlement to employees who
have been continuously employed for a period of 3 months
or more was removed.
From this date all employees regardless of their length of contract may be
entitled to SSP provided they satisfy
the remaining qualifying conditions. The
provisions are a result of the European Directive on Fixed Term Workers and are
enacted
in regulations arising from the Employment Act 2002. While not
directly targeted at women the change nonetheless improves the provision of sick
pay for those workers who are women.

Child Benefit

313. Child Benefit provides virtually all families, around 7 million, with a
contribution towards the cost of bringing up children.
It is normally paid to
the mother. Both the higher rate for the eldest child and the rate for each
subsequent child continue to be
increased each year in line with prices. From
April 2003 the amount paid for the first child is £16.05 a week, and for
second
and subsequent children, £10.75 a week. Since 1997 the rate for the
first/eldest child has increased in real terms by 25%. As
part of the reform of
the financial support for children the administration of Child Benefit transfers
to the Inland Revenue from
April 2003 and will be paid in addition to the new
Child Tax Credit.

Bereavement benefits

314. With effect from 9 April 2001 widow’s benefits were replaced by
bereavement benefits for men and women becoming widowed
from that date. The
previous report included information about the proposals for and consultation on
change. As a consequence of
the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 the new
scheme provides: a lump sum of £2,000 immediately on bereavement; a Widowed
Parent’s Allowance to widows and widowers until the youngest child in the
family ceases full time education; and a Bereavement
Allowance for 12 months to
widows and widowers aged 45 and over with no dependent children. None of
the changes affected existing widows, people over state pension age or war
widows. Bereavement benefits are equally accessible
to both men and women on the
basis of the National Insurance contributions of the deceased spouse (as
widow’s benefits were
based on the contributions of the deceased husband).
For the first time a woman’s contributions from paid employment provide
equal support in bereavement for her spouse and dependent children in the event
of her death during working age when her family would
be deprived of her
earnings.

Pensions

315. The Government is committed to ensuring that pension reforms improve
women’s pension rights. The proportion of women receiving
a basic state
pension in their own right is increasing and it is estimated that in future
years more and more women will become entitled
to a basic state pension in their
own right reflecting increased female participation in the labour market. The
Government also recognises
the importance of providing sound information on the
type of pension provision that best suits women’s individual needs and
circumstances. Clear and understandable guidance is already available to assist
people in planning for their pension provision. A
series of leaflets has been
produced to inform people of the pensions options open to them. One of these,
Pensions for Women — Your guide, outlines the pension options
available specifically for women. The Pensions Act 1995 equalises the state
pension age for men and
women at 65 by 2020, as well as the age up to which men
and women are required to pay National Insurance contributions; it also
introduces
a fully equalised state pension scheme. Older women are not affected
by the change to the state pension age, that will be phased
in over a 10-year
period from 2010. The Government has introduced a range of policies that
directly benefit older women as described
below. Also see article 3 on
Government action to alleviate poverty among women, including older women, for
further details.

Occupational Pensions

316. The Government is committed to improving second tier pension provision,
particularly amongst women. The Government recognises
that, whilst the
proportion of women who have occupational and personal pensions is increasing,
it is still below that of men. Amendments
to domestic legislation made in 1995
(see previous report for details) have improved access to occupational pension
schemes and rights
to equal benefits under such schemes for a significant number
of women, particularly those who have been discriminated in the past
because
they worked part-time. Since 1999, there has been litigation in the European
Court of Justice and in the domestic courts
to ensure that women who have
previously been denied access to membership of their employers’
occupational pension schemes
on the basis of their part-time status can be
awarded retrospective rights to membership of, and benefits under, those schemes
in
a manner consistent with principles of EU law in this area. Domestic
legislation will be further amended to ensure that it is completely
in line with
EU law in this area.

Stakeholder pensions

317. The Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999 provided for the
introduction of stakeholder pensions from April 2001. These are simple, low
charge, flexible pensions not restricted
to those who are working. Women who
wish to save towards a decent income in retirement can now do so and benefit
from tax relief
on the contributions paid into a stakeholder pension.
Stakeholder pensions can be moved between providers without charge. . The
flexibility
of stakeholder pensions means that they are a good option for women
who take a break from work as contributions can be stopped and
restarted without
penalty. This is beneficial to those women in the modern labour market who move
regularly between employers and
occupations and who, at different times, may be
self-employed, employed on a limited term contract or on a permanent contract.
As
stakeholder pensions are open to non-earners, women who are not employed but
can afford to save something towards their retirement
are able to do so.
Stakeholder pension rules also allow family or friends to contribute towards
someone else’s pension, which
may help the large number of women who are
carers.

State Second Pensions

318. The State Second Pension was introduced by the Child Support,
Pensions and Social Security Act 2000. From April 2002, State Second Pension
reforms the State Earnings-Related Pension Scheme (SERPS). State Second Pension
offers people
earning less than the statutory lower earnings threshold
(currently £11,200), many of whom are women, a second pension equivalent
to
double the amount SERPS would have paid to somebody earning £11,200. Those
needed at home to care for young children, most
of whom are women, carers, and
disabled people will also be entitled to State Second Pension.

Pensions on Divorce

319. The Pensions Act 1995, which came into force in 1996, extended
the courts’ powers in relation to the treatment of pensions on divorce. In
particular,
the earmarking provisions introduced by the Matrimonial Causes
Act 1973 were extended. These enabled a court to order a pension scheme
member to pay part or all of his/her pension when it became payable
to the
former spouse. This applied to the lump sum payment and/or the periodical
payments. The new provisions contained in the Pensions Act enable the
court to order a pension scheme to pay part or all of a scheme member’s
pension, when it becomes payable, direct
to the former spouse on the
member’s behalf. This is known as “attachment”. Key elements
of the provisions include:
clarification of the court’s duty to take
pension rights into account when considering the financial settlement on
divorce;
the attachment provisions remove the need for the former spouse to rely
on the scheme member passing on payments; powers to enable
the courts to order
pension schemes to make payment of a lump sum payable on the death of a scheme
member direct to a third party
nominated by the scheme member. The Pensions Act
made similar changes to divorce law in Scotland.

Pension Sharing

320. Under earmarking provisions, the title to the pension rights remains
with the pension scheme member. The provisions do not allow
a clean financial
break in a divorce settlement and they leave the former spouse at risk of losing
the intended retirement income
if the scheme member dies. With the introduction
of the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999, the Government introduced
pension sharing as a further option available to divorcing couples and the
courts to determine the financial
settlement on divorce. The policy proposals
were developed in partnership with the pensions industry, family lawyers and
groups representing
divorcing couples. Both primary and secondary draft
legislation, which allow pension rights to be treated like other assets and the
whole, or a proportion, of their value to be transferred from one spouse to the
other as part of the financial settlement, were subject
to extensive
consultation. The pension sharing legislation came into force on 1 December 2000
for divorces where proceedings were
commenced on or after this date. Pension
sharing applies equally to both men and women. Due to the current distribution
of pension
rights the main beneficiaries are women. Pension sharing enables a
divorcing wife to obtain a fairer financial settlement on divorce
and a secure
income in retirement.

Help for Poorest Pensioners

Minimum Income Guarantee

321. From April 2002 the Government is spending around £6 billion extra
a year in real terms on pensioners as a result of policies
it has introduced
since 1997. That includes £2.5 billion more spending for the poorest third
of pensioners in 2002-03, three
times more than an earnings link in the basic
state pension since 1998 would have given them. The Minimum Income Guarantee
(MIG)
for low-income pensioners, most of whom are women, allows people to have
£12,000 savings and still qualify for extra support.
From April 2003, the
MIG will rise from £98.15 to £102.10 for single pensioners and from
£149.80 to £155.80 for
couples. The MIG has increased at least in line
with earnings each year since 1999. Currently, over 1.7 million pensioners, 1.15
million of whom are women, are in receipt of the MIG. A number of measures have
been put in place to identify those pensioners who
may be entitled to the MIG
but have not claimed it. These measures include: a shortened claim form; callers
to the telecentre who
are not receiving the MIG are encouraged to claim; and a
data matching exercise to automatically identify entitlement following a
key
life event or receipt of another benefit. A MIG claim line has also been set up
to allow pensioners to make a claim over the
phone. From October 2003, the MIG
will be replaced by the Pension Credit From October 2002, female and male
pensioners in Scotland
benefit, as a minimum, from free off-peak local bus
travel within existing concessionary fares schemes boundaries.

Pension Credit

322. The State Pension Credit Act 2002
received Royal Assent in June 2002. The Act provides for the introduction of the
Pension Credit, a key part of the Government’s
strategy for combating
pensioner poverty. Following the implementation of the Minimum Income Guarantee
(MIG), the Government recognised
that large numbers of pensioners were subject
to arbitrary assessment rules dating back 50 years that penalised them for
having savings
or second pensions. The Pension Credit has been designed to
remove those penalties and, in their place, institute a system that rewards
those who have been prudent and have saved for their retirement. From October
2003, the Pension Credit will replace MIG. The Pension
Credit provides that
no-one aged 60 or over need live on less than a guaranteed weekly income of
£102.10 (£155.80 for couples).
Also, for the first time, it rewards
those pensioners with modest savings and income, rather than penalising them.
People aged 65
and over will be able to earn a savings credit of up to
£14.79 (£19.20 for couples). The design of the scheme will greatly
reduce the complexity attached to previous income-related schemes. There will be
more generous rules on the treatment of capital,
the £12,000 exclusion that
existed under the old scheme will be abolished and most people aged 65 or over
will need to report
fewer changes in their circumstances – increases in
second pensions and in savings will not need to be reported at all for
periods
of up to five years. There will be a nation-wide marketing campaign to promote
the Pension Credit, and all pensioners will
receive direct mail advising them
about the scheme and how to apply for it. Two thirds of those eligible for the
Pension Credit will
be women and approximately 60% of all women over 80 will be
entitled to the Pension Credit.

Winter Fuel Payments

323. Winter Fuel Payments, an annual lump sum paid to provide help to
eligible older people throughout Great Britain towards their
winter fuel bills,
were increased to £100 for each eligible household for the winter of
1999-2000 and to £200 for each
eligible household from winter 2000-01. The
Winter Fuel Payment scheme was extended to cover most men and women from age 60,
regardless
of whether they are receiving social security benefit. Therefore,
women aged 60 and over who had no entitlement to Retirement Pension
or other
social security benefits have become eligible for payments. It was announced in
July 2002 that, under European social security
co-ordinating regulations, people
who qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment in the UK might be able to continue
receiving payments if
they move to another EEA country. During winter 2001-02,
around 8 million households benefited. Of the 11.2 million payments made
to
individuals, over 6.3 million went to women.

Carers

324. Some 467,000 carers — almost three quarters of them women —
are entitled to Carer’s Allowance (CA), formerly
known as Invalid Care
Allowance. Over 230,000 of these — almost one half — are entitled to
the carer premium in the income-related
benefits through entitlement of CA.
Carers are now benefiting from a package of extra help worth £500 million
over 3 years.
This started with increases in the CA earnings limit and in the
carer premium from April 2001. From 28 October 2002 carers aged 65
or over have
been able to claim CA for the first time, and entitlement can continue for up to
8 weeks following the death of person
being cared for. In addition, carers will
build up State Second Pension for each full tax year.

Child support

325. The Government recognises that all children have the right to the
financial and emotional support of both parents. Children are
better off,
financially and emotionally, when both parents meet their responsibilities. The
overwhelming majority of parents with
caring responsibilities (around 95%) are
women. In 2000 Parliament passed the Child Support, Pensions and Social
Security Act. This contained the Government’s proposals for a reformed
child support system. The key features of the new scheme are:

• New maintenance calculation — simple deductions of 15% (one
child), 20% (two children) and 25% (three or more children)
of non-resident
parent’s net income. Allowances will be made for any children in the
current household of the non-resident
parent.

• Special Rates for those on a low income. Non-resident parents (NRP)
with net earnings of £100 a week or less will pay
a flat rate of £5.
Those earning between £100-200 a week will pay a reduced rate on a sliding
scale related to their income.
NRPs on benefits will pay a flat rate of £5
a week.

• Shared care — non-resident parents who care for their children
for one night a week or more will be eligible for a reduced
maintenance
calculation.

• Child Maintenance Premium — parents with care on Income Support
or income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance will keep
up to £10 a week of
the maintenance paid for their children, without it affecting their benefit.

• Variations scheme – A Maintenance Calculation can be adjusted
either up or down to have certain child-related expenses
or special circumstance
taken into account (for example, costs of keeping in contact with a child).

• Phasing – To ease transition to a different liability under the
new scheme, converted cases’ new liability will
be phased in over (up to)
five years.

• Since January 2001 the CSA have been able to use a number of new
powers aimed at improving compliance. These include a fine
of up to £1,000
for refusal to provide information and for providing false information, and
(since April 2001) where the non-resident
parent will not pay, he/she can be
disqualified from driving as an alternative to imprisonment.

• No account will be taken of the parent with care or their
partner’s income.

• The new scheme will improve the situation for lone mothers —
maintenance should be assessed quickly and accurately,
providing a vital bridge
from dependency on benefit to the world of work.

326. These changes were introduced for new cases from 3rd March
2003. Existing cases will convert to the new scheme on a date yet to be
announced.

Northern Ireland

New Targeting Social Need

327. New Targeting Social Need (TSN) is Northern Ireland’s main
policy for tackling poverty and social exclusion. New TSN aims to tackle social
need and social
exclusion by targeting efforts and available resources within
existing Departmental programmes towards women and men, groups and
areas in
greatest social need. Those in greatest social need must be identified
objectively and targeted fairly, regardless of attributes
such as gender,
religion or race. New TSN does not discriminate against any section of the
community. The policy is being advanced
through three complimentary elements:
tackling unemployment and increasing employability; tackling inequality in other
policy areas
such as health, housing and education; and Promoting Social
Inclusion. The Promoting Social Inclusion (PSI) element of New TSN involves
Departments working together and with partners outside Government to identify
and tackle factors that can contribute to social exclusion
and undertake
positive initiatives to improve and enhance the life and circumstances of the
most deprived and marginalized women
and men in Northern Ireland. Moreover, PSI
looks at issues that impact women, including teenage pregnancy and carers.

328. New TSN is unique in that it is not a programme with its own budget.
Instead it is a policy running through all relevant existing
spending programmes
across all Northern Ireland Departments. Every Department has produced a New TSN
Action Plan showing how it will
implement New TSN through existing and new
programmes. These Plans identify the social needs that Departments are tackling
and contain
the actions and targets that Departments’ delivery of New TSN
can be judged on. As required, within the Northern Ireland Executive
Programme
For Government, an independent external evaluation of New TSN was commissioned
in September 2002, to assess the way in
which the policy has been implemented so
far and to examine its impact. The results of the evaluation are due to be
presented in
2003. The evaluation will define the future direction of the
policy.

Scotland

329. In November 1999 the Scottish Executive
published its Social Justice Strategy — a Scotland where everyone
matters — setting out its 10 long-term targets and 29 milestones.
Factors impacting on poverty and exclusion are wide-ranging so the
strategy
covers education, jobs, health, justice, housing and communities. Progress is
reported in the Social Justice Annual Reports,
with the Executive moving to
further disaggregate data on women where appropriate. Currently data on women is
available for 18 of
the 29 milestones, e.g. smoking during pregnancy has reduced
from 27% in 1999 to 25% in 2001.

Wales

330. The Welsh Assembly Government provides financial support for a
voluntary-sector body (Chwarae Teg) that undertakes a range of activity
to promote the position of women in the labour market in Wales. This includes
providing enterprise
advice for women and working with employers to help them
with their equality policies. The Assembly Government also promotes work-life
balance policies, including pilot projects in the public sector and a Challenge
Fund for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Travel and crime and fear of crime on public
transport

331. One aspect of the vision of the Government’s Ten Year Transport
Plan is for safer and more secure transport that is accessible
to women and men.
The Plan also recognises that improving public transport is vital in reducing
social exclusion, particularly for
people who have less access to a car
(including women). Although men and women make a similar number of journeys
overall, they make
them for different purposes, which reflect their different
lifestyles at different ages. Since 1999, the Department for Transport
(formally
the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions) has continued
its rolling programme of initiatives to reduce
crime and fear of crime on public
transport. While these measures will benefit both women and men they will
particularly benefit
women as they are the main public transport users:

• Produced a briefing paper highlighting public transport crime as an
issue that Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships need
to address. The paper
was launched and publicised at a series of 10 regional seminars between November
2001 and January 2002 attended
by regional transport and crime agencies;

• In 2000 issued Women and Public Transport – the
Checklist to local government transport planners to improve public transport
services for women. This includes good practice on personal security;

• In 2002 members of the Women’s Transport Network held a forum
on Women’s Transport to discuss the key transport issues for women
and consider how to take these issues forward through an action plan.

• In 2002, Get on board: an agenda for improving personal security
in bus travel guidance and case studies report were published and widely
disseminated to transport planners, operators, Crime and Disorder Reduction
Partnerships, and other interested agencies;

• Currently supporting a 2 year pilot project looking at delivering a
secure transport route, including on vehicle, railway
lines, bus stops, taxi
ranks, car parks and the local pedestrian environment along the route and
termini of the line;

• Current joint project with the Strategic Rail Authority to look at
ways to improve personal security in train travel;

• Commissioned further research on perceptions of personal security on
public transport. Part of this research involves an evaluation
of a number of
Departmental initiatives to improve personal security in transport and the
impact they have on people’s perceptions;

• In 2002 launched a new official-level group on bus and coach security
issues, called the Safer Travel on Buses and Coaches
Panel (STOP). This group
brings together operators, unions, transport and local authorities and the
police, as well as Department
for Transport and Home Office officials, to
consider how best to tackle bus and coach-related crime and to spread good
practice throughout
the industry;

• The number of stations accredited under the Secure Stations Scheme
(designed to improve and standardise good security practices
at all overground
and underground stations) has steadily grown since its launch in 1998.
Approximately two thirds of all overground
rail journeys and one third of all
London Underground journeys involve passengers starting or finishing their
journey at a Secure
Station;

• Some minority ethnic and faith groups express significantly higher
levels of fear on public transport than the majority of
the population.
Department for Transport commissioned a project to examine the transport needs
of different minority ethnic and faith
communities are initially took forward
the findings with operators, passengers and other groups in a series of
workshops during 2002,
this work will help shape the final stage of the project
when the results of the initiatives and trials implemented by participating
organisations as a result of the workshops will be presented at a number of
conferences in 2003;

• Recently commissioned to see the link between bus related crime and
other crimes and identify how measures to tackle bus related
incidents could
provide police with a gateway to apprehend perpetrators of other crimes;

• During 2003 good practice guidance will be issued on reducing
graffiti and other environmental nuisance on and around transport
systems.

Older women

332. The Government recognise the importance to pensioners of low-cost public
transport; want to ensure that bus travel remains within
the means of those on
limited income. From June 2001 the Government has made local bus travel more
affordable through half-fare minimum
concessionary fares provision for
pensioners in England. The introduction of minimum half fares on local bus
services has helped
some seven million older and disabled people in England.
Local authorities with less generous schemes or no scheme at all, now have
to
offer at least the minimum standard.

333. See article 14 for information on rural transport.

Northern Ireland

334. Under Northern Ireland’s Regional Transportation Strategy (RTS),
women will benefit from a number of initiatives and improved
services. As women
are generally greater users of both bus and rail services, these schemes will
clearly improve the services available
to women. On rail services, women in
particular will benefit from the provision of modern rolling stock to replace
all existing trains
and from additional levels of service, the retention of the
rail network, refurbishment of stations and access improvements to and
at
railway stations. Women in particular will benefit from bus fleet replacement of
the modern, low-floor variety, additional and
increased levels of service
throughout the region, enhanced bus stop and access facilities, refurbishment of
bus stations and access
improvements to and at bus stations. Benefits will also
arise from the rapid transit system, through the provision of fast, modern
vehicles and associated facilities. Other initiatives under the RTS where women
in particular will benefit include measures making
it easier to walk and cycle,
traffic calming, investment in car parks, the street lighting capital programme,
improved travel information
and enhanced facilities for taxis.

335. New measures have also been introduced to increase women’s safety
when travelling on public transport. These include improved
lighting for new bus
shelters and in all new rail stations and bus depots; radio contact for all late
night bus services in Belfast;
double-glazed windows on all new buses and trains
and greater use of on-board video on Citybus services. In addition, specific
buggy
spaces have been introduced on buses together with additional signage to
advise that prams and buggies can be accommodated to assist
women travelling
with small children. In addition to schemes specifically targeting the needs of
women in rural areas (Article 14),
the introduction of new low floor buses on
the Quality Bus Corridors in Belfast will improve the transport services
available to
women across the city. This supports the objective of improving
public transport in order to increase social mobility and allows
women to enjoy
greater access to opportunities for employment, education and training.

Scotland

336. An integrated transport policy for Scotland is being implemented. These
measures were set out in the White Paper Travel Choices
for Scotland. Its aim is
to develop an effective, sustainable and integrated transport system appropriate
to the needs of the people,
economy and environment of Scotland. It will provide
effective transport alternatives to the car wherever practical. Specific
attention
will be given to addressing the particular transport needs of women.
For example, women in rural areas are particularly disadvantaged
because of lack
of public transport. Elderly and mobility impaired women and mothers with
children will also benefit from improvements
in public transport services and
increased personal security.

Wales

337. The Welsh Assembly Governments plans for an integrated transport system
in Wales are set out in the Transport Framework for Wales.
The main aims of this
strategy are to provide Wales with an integrated, accessible and efficient
transport system that promotes safety,
healthier lifestyles and care for the
environment. The Transport Framework also works towards the 3 strategic aims of
the Assembly,
sustainable development, tackling social disadvantage, promoting
equal opportunities. In order to achieve the latter aim the Assembly
is carrying
through a number of activities to reduce the barriers that insufficient access
to transport can create for women. Together
with Crime Concern, local
authorities, bus operators and the police, we have established the Secure Bus
Steering Group. Crime Concern
will produce a scheme to accredit bus stations
where crime is below a certain level, and where passengers feel safe. Pilots
will
have been completed by the end of March 2003.The Welsh Assembly
Government’s policy guaranteeing free concessionary travel
for pensioners
and disabled people on local bus services is immensely popular, and has been
extended to include men over the age
of 60 from April 2003. The Assembly has
taken a leading role in the report of the Transport and Employment Working
Group, which has
assessed what more needs to be done to enhance public transport
where large numbers of unemployed people find this a significant
barrier in
getting work, including young women.

ARTICLE 14: RURAL WOMEN

Institutions in rural UK

338. The Countryside Agency is the government agency responsible for
promoting social and economic opportunity for rural women and
men. The White
Paper Our Countryside; the future published in November 2000, introduced
a Rural Services Standard with the aim to facilitate women and men’s
access to public
services in rural areas. The Countryside Agency has
responsibility for monitoring the standards annually and making suggestions for
further developments.

Equal opportunities for women in rural areas

339. The Department mainstreams a gender perspective into its work, ensuring
that policies across Government take into account the
differential economic,
social and environmental impacts on rural communities. Women are
well-represented on the Rural Affairs Forum,
that provides a voice into the
heart of government for those who live and work in the countryside. The Mid-Term
Review of the EU
Common Agricultural Policy offers a major opportunity to
redirect resources investing in rural development measures of real value
to the
wider rural economy. The Government is working to ensure that rural areas
provide an attractive future for women and their
families; and that means a
greater focus on environmental, rural development, and community issues. We have
worked with partners
to improve rural services such as schools, policing, post
offices and childcare. 1,500 villages will benefit from the Countryside
Agency’s £15 million Vital Villages Programme; other benefits include
5,000 extra affordable homes in villages between
2000 and 2004.

Rural transport

340. Cars are the main mode of transport for both rural men and women.
Driving licence holding for rural women has increased by nearly
a fifth over the
last 10 years, whereas the proportion of men holding licences has changed
little. Recognising that rural women are
more likely to rely on public transport
than men, the Government is working to ensure that public transport services
take into account
women’s needs and concerns (e.g. improve access,
increase safety). Following a review of its previous transport grant schemes
(the Rural Transport Partnership scheme and the Rural Transport Development
Grant), the Countryside Agency has developed the new
Rural Transport Partnership
scheme (RTP). This opened for applications from 2 April 2001. Funding each year
for the three financial
years starting April 2001 is £8m, £12m and
£12m respectively. The overall objective of the scheme is to enhance rural
transport services to secure a long-term improvement in women and men’s
access to jobs, services and social activities and
in visitor’s
sustainable access to the countryside. This will help to tackle social exclusion
and isolation. Each Rural Transport
Partnership is required to undertake a
transport needs assessment to identify the most appropriate solutions for
addressing the needs
of local women and men. Some of the research funded through
the RTP scheme has specifically addressed the transport issues that affect
women
in rural areas, for example, one recent study investigated the issues affecting
women in the Forest of Dean who wish to access
employment, education or
training. The study suggested ways in which an existing Wheels to Work
scheme could provide better assistance to women and also identified a number of
recommendations connected to both employment and
transport policy.

341. The current Government initiative Modernising Government aims to ensure
that the needs of different social groups are taken into
consideration in policy
development and service delivery. All policies and programmes should be reviewed
to ensure that there are
no disproportionate effects on different groups of
people. In 2000 the Department for Transport commissioned the Public Gender
Audit
to identify women’s transport needs and ways to meet such needs. The
findings were translated into a check list audit pack
for use by managers to
raise awareness of the gender differences in use and experiences of public
transport by men and women; assess
how well the organisation meets women’s
needs; identify priorities for improvement; and measure progress towards
targets. The
impact of the checklist is being monitored through a comprehensive
review of local authorities Local Transport Plans and Annual Progress
Reports.
This review is looking for evidence of commitment to and good practice in the
development, design and provision of transport
services by local authorities. It
will be repeated annually. Recognising that women, due to fear of violence, are
less willing to
travel after dark, the Department has a rolling programme of
initiatives to tackle crime and the fear of crime across the ‘whole
journey’. The Government is encouraging the spread of best practice in
crime prevention techniques on public transport through
guidance to operators,
local authorities and other interested parties. The Mobility and Inclusion Unit
have published Guidelines
for Transport Operators on Personal Security on Public
Transport and guidelines about personal security in bus travel to improve
security. Additionally, Local Transport Plans are required to address personal
security issues in all modes and across the whole
journey.

Childcare in rural areas

342. The Countryside Agency and its predecessors over a number of years have
built up quite considerable knowledge and expertise on
childcare provision in
rural communities. In November 1999 the Agency launched a Rural Children’s
and Young People’s
Forum with support from the Department for Education
and Skills to take forward work in this area. The Forum is intended to play
a
key role in exchanging information, sharing good practice, assisting policy
development and monitoring provision and raise the
profile of rural
children’s needs. The Forum is made up of people from the voluntary,
public and private sectors and representatives
from government departments. Sure
Start is a key part of the Government’s strategy to end child poverty by
2020 (see article
10). A number of rural Sure Start programmes are being
implemented with the aim to improve service delivery and the problems of
addressing
disadvantage that is hidden, often masked by affluence and occurring
in often quite small pockets. The Agency is monitoring the progress
and
development of all the Sure Start programmes and expects to monitor the mini
programmes when they get underway next year.

Rural development

343. The England Rural Development Programme (ERDP) implements the EU Rural
Development Regulation in England aimed at providing new
opportunities for
farmers and others to protect and improve the countryside, to develop
sustainable rural enterprise, and to help
rural communities to thrive. By the
end of 2006, the Programme, partly financed by the EU, will have provided over
£1.6 billion
in support. The Programme provides the opportunity for many
farm businesses to explore new sources of farm income and will be available
to
all eligible applicants, both men and women. Survey evidence shows that women
play an important strategic role on the farm, in
terms of both the traditional
agricultural enterprises and new enterprises. (72% oversee the farm’s
accounts; two thirds are
partners in the farm business; half are involved in
management and planning of the farm business; over a third are responsible for
a
new enterprise on the farm). In view of women’s role in rural areas, some
elements of the Programme can be identified as
being particularly relevant to
women in rural areas.

• The Rural Enterprise Scheme, which provides grants for developing
sustainable rural businesses. Some elements of this scheme
(e.g. marketing of
quality agricultural products, diversification of agricultural activities,
encouragement for tourist and craft
activities) provide opportunities for
introducing innovative farm-based business activities where women have a
particularly strong
role. It also provides scope for collaborative working and
support systems outwith the farm to enable farm women to seek employment
while
coping with farm and family duties.

• Training can allow women in rural areas to obtain and develop the
skills and the means to use new qualifications, either on-farm
or in the wider
rural economy. The Vocational Training Scheme (part of the ERDP) provides grants
towards training for farmers and
foresters.

• Processing and marketing initiatives in rural areas can provide new
employment opportunities for women and for men. Under
the ERDP, support is
available for such initiatives through the Processing and Marketing Grant.

Northern Ireland

344. The Government’s Agri-Food Development Service (AFDS) offers a
comprehensive education, training and lifelong learning
provision. Equality of
opportunity in terms of access and participation is provided for all members of
farming families. Some of
the lifelong learning programmes, particularly
Information and Communications Technology training, have included large numbers
of
rural women. AFDS Advisers also play key roles in providing competence
development support to rural women through their work with
groups like the
Women in Agriculture and East Antrim Ladies Farm Forum.

345. The Rural Development Programme (2001-06) emerged from a series of
consultation exercises and evaluations that began in 1997.
One of the main
guiding principles for implementing the Programme is the promotion of equality
of opportunity and inclusion. Under
the Capacity Building element of the
Programme there will be opportunities for rural women to develop the skills,
knowledge and experience
that they need to play a part in the economic,
environmental and social changes impacting on rural areas. The Local
Regeneration
element of the Programme will provide opportunities for
women’s groups and organisations to bring forward proposals for
consideration.
The Rural Development Council will be pro-active in seeking
applications from women’s groups in rural areas and ensure that,
women are
represented on the committees of funded projects.

346. Other initiatives include a Needs Analysis for the Rural
Women’s Sector to address the needs of rural women. The Rural
Development Council has an approved Equality Scheme. The Scheme sets out the
Council’s
plan for meeting its statutory obligations on the promotion of
equality of opportunity and good relations over a five-year period.
The
Department for regional Development has submitted a number of public transport
projects under the various EU Programmes that
will benefit the rural population
of Northern Ireland. As women are generally considered to be greater users of
bus and rail services,
these schemes will clearly improve the services available
to women. In addition the Department operates the Rural Transport Fund,
a scheme
designed to reduce social exclusion by increasing accessibility and mobility in
rural areas. It currently supports both
community transport partnerships and
Ulsterbus services in rural and deprived areas. Women in general and in
particular, those caring
for either young or older dependents will benefit from
the services provided through this Fund.

Scotland

347. The Scottish Rural Partnership Fund (SRPF) was established in 1996 to
provide resources to support community development throughout
rural Scotland and
totalled £2.8 million in 2002/03. Within it, the Rural Challenge Fund aims
to encourage women and young people
to take up work, by for example, funding
projects aimed at improving childcare and training facilities in rural parts of
Scotland.
The particular difficulties in delivering childcare and other
programmes affecting women in rural areas, where the low population
density can
make it difficult to achieve a “critical mass” to set up provision,
are being addressed. A Rural Issues Sub-Group
exists to ensure the New Deal
takes full account of the rural situation.

348. The Scottish Office published the findings of a study Car Dependence
in Rural Scotland in June 1998. It found that 89% of households in rural
Scotland have a car, and cars were used for 76.5% of all journeys. Although
there were no differences in the number of journeys, men make a higher
proportion of their journeys by car, and their car journeys
are significantly
longer than those of women. The study found that for those in more remote
households, running a car was more of
a necessity, even for the lowest income
groups. Following the Budget in March 1998, similar arrangements for rural
transport in Scotland
have been made to those described for England. A Rural
Transport Funding Package provides £13.5 million over 3 years to improve
transport links in rural Scotland. Of this, £10.5 million is being used for
subsidising public transport services, mainly to
provide new and additional bus
services; £1.8 million is being used for community transport projects,
under a programme administered
by the Community Transport Association; and
£1.2 million is being used to help rural petrol stations so as to retain a
vital
network of petrol stations in remote areas.

Wales

349. The Rural Partnership for Wales — an advisory body which brings
together representatives of the National Assembly, Welsh
Development Agency,
Welsh Local Government Association, the Farming Unions and other key
stakeholders including Chwarae Teg and the
Welsh Language Board — makes a
key contribution to the development of rural programmes and policies in Wales.
In identifying
policy and practice capable of delivering substantial benefits to
rural Wales, as well as informing the preparation of a new rural
agenda for
Wales for consideration by the National Assembly, the Partnership ensures that
equal opportunities are an integral part
of its work. In addition, recently
launched initiatives such as Rural Community Action, measures to assist the
promotion and adaptation
of rural Wales under the Rural Development Plan and the
LEADER+ Programme all have equal opportunities as a key cross-cutting theme.
This principal also applies to initiatives such as Farming Connect, which
contains specific measures to assist women in farming families
and to all the
agricultural and rural schemes operated by the National Assembly.

The Environment

350. The UK’s environment policy is addressed as part of the broader
concept of sustainable development, so that environmental
considerations are
integrated into all areas of policy (including transport, energy and
agriculture). The Government recognises the
critical role women play in
environmental decision-making and seeks to integrate specific gender needs in
the planning of settlements,
buildings, transport infrastructure and services
(e.g. in terms of personal safety and access to affordable housing). For
instance,
the Government continues to consult women’s groups on a range of
environmental policies. Women’s groups are well represented
on Government
advisory bodies such as the Sustainable Development Commission, the National
Consumer Council and the Local Agenda
21 Steering Group, but the Government
continues to look to improve its performance in involving women in all aspects
of environmental
decision-making.

ARTICLE 15: EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW AND IN CIVIL MATTERS

Judicial Appointments

351. The Lord Chancellor[21] has
repeatedly stressed that discrimination has no place in the judicial
appointments process. His policy is to appoint to each judicial
post in England
and Wales the candidate who appears to be the best qualified regardless of
gender, ethnic origin, marital status,
sexual orientation, political
affiliation, religion or disability. In addition to appointments made on merit,
the Lord Chancellor’s
guiding principles are that candidates who are
interested in becoming judges should apply for appointment; that the
appointments
process must be founded on real equality of opportunity; and that
everyone should have access to information about the qualities
and skills sought
in a potential judge. To encourage more women to apply for judicial
appointments, and to help the progress of successful
candidates, the Lord
Chancellor has introduced the following initiatives:

• The creation of a Commission for Judicial Appointments to: conduct an
ongoing audit of the judicial appointments and Queen’s
Counsel procedures;
handle complaints from individuals and organisations about the application of
those procedures; and to make recommendations
to the Lord Chancellor for
improvements to the process.

• A Pilot One-day Assessment Centre, held during October and November
2002, where applicants were given a variety of opportunities
to demonstrate
their suitability for the job by participating in various exercises appropriate
to the post applied for. The criteria
for appointments are kept under constant
review and a competency framework was developed for use with the Assessment
Centre Pilot.

• Officials from the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) carry
out a constructive dialogue with the legal profession
on diversity and equal
opportunity issues. Ministers and officials have attended conferences throughout
England and Wales providing
information, and they have worked closely with the
profession through the Joint Working Party on Equal Opportunities in Judicial
Appointments and Silk. DCA officials are also on the organising committees for
the Minority Lawyers’ Conference and the Women
Lawyer Forum.

• DCA has produced a video entitled “All Rise”,
about the procedures for applying for part-time appointments.

• All judicial posts up to and including the High Court Bench, with the
exception of Deputy High Court Judge, are advertised.

• Lay Members are used in the selection process including the
interviews themselves.

• A Work-shadowing scheme has been set up whereby barristers and
solicitors who may be interested in applying to be a Recorder
or Deputy District
Judge can shadow a judge for up to 5 days and learn what it would be like to sit
in a judicial capacity.

• The Lord Chancellor has approved the appointment of a permanent
part-time District Judge (because of her responsibilities
as a carer) and,
following a successful pilot scheme, has extended the facility to future
competitions for appointments to certain
other judicial posts.

• It is possible for those who have had a career break for family
reasons to apply to undertake their sittings as Recorders
in concentrated blocks
rather than being spread over a number of years.

• Candidates for the most recent Recorder competition were allowed to
submit a statement setting out the factors they believed
may have restricted
their career opportunities. This has now been extended to cover all other
part-time judicial appointments.

• A booklet about equality and diversity in judicial appointments was
published in May 2002 and is available on the DCA website
(www.dca.gov.uk).

352. Since October 1999 a Judicial Appointments Annual Report has been
published giving details of the changes the Lord Chancellor
has made and plans
that are intended for the judicial appointments procedures. In April 2002 the
Lord Chancellor abolished most of
the age limits specified in defining the field
of eligibility for judicial appointments. This has removed unnecessary
restrictions
and now allows those professional groups where females and males
are equally matched, and where female and ethnic minority lawyers
are better
represented, to apply for a judicial appointment earlier in their career.
Information about appointments procedures and
the criteria for applying is
available on the DCA website. The number of women judges is, at least in part, a
reflection of the number
of women in the legal profession with the appropriate
years of experience. Judges are appointed from among relatively senior lawyers.
The number of women with the appropriate seniority for appointment is growing as
more women enter the legal profession and the number
of women in the judiciary
continues to show a steady increase, as shown in the higher percentage of women
in the part-time ranks
of the judiciary than at the full-time level.

353. In 2001-02, of the main appointments through open competition 34.4% were
women. This represents an increase from 1998-99, when
women represented 23.5% of
the main appointments. The average length of legal experience of those appointed
to the main competitions
in 2001-02 was just over 22 years. From information
supplied by the Bar Council and the Law Society, the proportion of female
barristers
with over 20 years experience for the same period was 13.2%, and the
proportion of female solicitors was 12.0%. It is the Lord Chancellor’s
policy not to set targets for increasing the diversity of the judiciary, but he
has published projections of the proportion of women
who may come through the
appointments process successfully over the next five and ten years. These
projections, first published in
October 2001, show that the percentage of women
appointed from the Deputy District Judge competition in 2005 may be 38% and in
2010
the figure may rise to 42%. For the District Judge competitions in 2005 and
2010 the figures are estimated to be 38% and 45% respectively.
Figures for the
Recorder and Circuit Judge competitions are lower – women may account for
20% of appointments for both competitions
in 2005 and for 24% and 25%
respectively in 2010.

354. The Lord Chancellor supports the action taken by the Bar Council and the
Law Society to promote equal opportunities within the
profession and his
officials are involved in a joint working group on equal opportunities in
judicial appointments, which comprises
members of both branches of the
profession. The Lord Advocate follows a similar policy in Scotland. The legal
profession in Scotland
is encouraging more women advocates and solicitors to
make themselves available for judicial appointments. In addition, women play
a
key role as lay magistrates in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland. Lay
magistrates are men and women without legal qualification
who sit in a judicial
capacity in local courts on a part-time voluntary basis. In England and Wales
women accounted for 43% of lay
magistrates in 1989, rising to 46% in 1993, 48%
in 1998, and 49.1% in 2001. See table 15.1 in annex 2 (article 15, p. 16).

355. Judicial Training is the responsibility of the Judicial Studies Board
(JSB) — an independent-non departmental public body.
All newly appointed
part-time judges, and all judges who are authorised to hear family cases, are
required to attend a residential
Induction course in the relevant jurisdiction.
Thereafter, both full- and part-time judges attend residential continuation
seminars
every 3 years in each jurisdiction they exercise. Modules on Domestic
Violence are included in both Induction and Continuation Training
in Criminal,
Civil and Family Law, with a view to ensuring they are given the same attention
and consideration as other cases. Many
judges also attend locally organised
conferences. In addition, all full and part-time judges sitting in the Crown
Court attend an
annual one-day Circuit Seminar on sentencing issues, for which
the theme in 2001-02 was Domestic Violence. This provided, on average,
up to 5
hours of additional training on this subject in 2000-01.

Legal Aid

356. English Law provides assistance in the form of publicly funded legal
services through the Community Legal Service and the Criminal
Defence Service to
people who wish to pursue legal remedies before the courts. In civil cases, the
conditions for granting legal
help or advice under the Access to Justice Act
1999 are that a person’s income and capital should fall within certain
prescribed
limits and that the merits of the case justify legal aid to be
granted. In criminal cases, the only test is whether it is in the
interests of
justice for legal aid to be granted. Women are just as eligible as men for legal
aid, providing the prescribed conditions
are fulfilled. In the calendar year
2001, of the legal aid certificates granting funding in family proceedings,
nearly twice as many
certificates were granted to women as to men. Of the
certificates issued in this area, the majority of women were plaintiffs and
the
men, respondents (see table 15.2 in annex 2, p. 16).

Support for court users

357. The Courts and Tribunals Modernisation Programme (CTMP) is aimed at
providing a better service for all users of the courts. Initiatives
being taken
forward within both the civil and criminal jurisdictions should increase access
to justice and improve the court experience
for women. One such project in the
criminal courts is the Vulnerable and Intimidated Witness Project (VIW),
initiated by the Home Office. This project is now providing a better environment
for giving evidence by vulnerable and intimidated
witnesses, who are often
women. The Department for Constitutional Affairs (formerly the Lord
Chancellor’s Department) and the
Court Service have worked with the Home
Office to ensure that the courts have the facilities, equipment and training to
make the
project a success. The project includes: live TV links for witnesses to
give evidence; a video recording of evidence in chief; screens
around the
witness box; pagers for witnesses. All Crown Court centres and widely used
satellite courts now have TV link equipment.
In total, 190 of the 497 courtrooms
in the Crown Court have been equipped. It is hoped to extend the provision of
VIW equipment to
45% of Crown Court courtrooms during 2002-03. The first
integrated, purpose-built witness suite was set up in the Crown Court at
Manchester Crown Square. The dedicated suite — a flagship for the Court
Service — has its own separate entrance and reception
area, and seven TV
link studios. A similar facility has now been provided at Durham and a third is
being developed at the Central
Criminal Court. Liverpool and Inner London Crown
Court centres have also bid for witness suites. The priorities currently for
providing
additional VIW equipment and witness rooms are the central Criminal
Court and the Street Crime Courts. If funding allows, equipment
will be supplied
to a further 16 courts and the Criminal Appeal Office.

358. Within the civil and family jurisdictions the Modernising the Civil and
Family Courts Report published in May 2002 has at its
heart the aim to improve
the services provided to court users, whilst delivering those services in ways
which are more convenient
to Court Service customers. In addition, there is a
commitment to increase the number of places where hearings can take place. A
recent survey found that women were more likely than men to find the Small
Claims Court process intimidating. Various projects within
CTMP address this
issue directly. For example, Money Claim Online is a web-based service available
from the Court Service Website.
Subject to certain conditions, it provides the
facility to issue claims for fixed amounts up to £100,000. Claimants can
issue
and check the progress of their claim on line, enter judgment and apply
for a warrant of execution over the Internet. Defendants
can submit an
acknowledgement of service, defence, part admission or counterclaim online.
There is an on-line guide for court users
about the small claims process,
including information on alternatives to coming to court, pre-court action
information and general
help. The ability to make and defend a claim on-line
without the need to attend court can make the initial stages of claiming and
defending less intimidating.

359. New IT systems are being developed which will not only reduce delays but
could be used to improve the information provided to
victims and witnesses and
to provide video links for hearings, thereby relieving the pressure of having to
attend court. The Court
Service is developing a Partnership project with
advice agencies, which may include providing them with electronic links to the
proposed business centres, hearing centres
and the claimant. This would give
advisers immediate access to a range of debt relief options without leaving
their offices, and
enable them to advise the debtor and ensure that action is
taken at the point of advice. Links between the parties could be established
more quickly thereby increasing the possibility of early settlement, possibly
without the need for a hearing.

360. In Northern Ireland, since the previous report the percentage of women
in the judiciary has increased from 7% to 14% (12% for
fulltime appointments).
There are 2 female County Court Judges, 2 female District Judges and 2 female
Resident Magistrates. There
are 878 Justices of the Peace in Northern Ireland of
whom 24% are women. Of the 143 Lay Panel members of the juvenile court 52% are
women.

361. In Scotland there are 3 female judges in the Supreme Courts, 21 female
Sheriffs (permanent) and 3 female Sheriffs (part-time).
There are 1,512 women
panel members of Children Hearings, which represents 59% of all panel members.
Of the Children’s Panel
Advisory Committee (CPAC) 91 are female which
represents 52% of all CPAC members.

ARTICLE 16: EQUALITY IN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

Divorce Law

362. On 16 January 2001 the Lord Chancellor announced that the Government
intends to invite Parliament to repeal Part II of the Family Law Act 1996
when a suitable legislative opportunity occurs. The Lord Chancellor indicated
that, in the light of the findings from the Final Evaluation Report into
information meetings required as the first stage of the divorce or separation
process, he did not believe Part II would fulfil
the Government’s policy
objectives of saving saveable marriages and, where marriages do break down,
bringing them to an end
with the minimum distress to the parties and children
affected. The Government will invite Parliament to repeal the relevant sections
of the Family Law Act once a suitable legislative opportunity occurs.

363. The Divorce (Religious Marriages) Act 2002 came into force on 24
February 2003. The Act addresses the problem experienced by some Jewish ex-wives
who are unable to remarry
in a religious ceremony where a religious divorce
— a get — has not been delivered after the granting of a
civil divorce.

Parental Rights and Responsibilities

364. Unmarried fathers who do not have or acquire parental responsibility may
still bring some applications under the Children Act 1989 although in
some instances the leave of the court is required. A change in the law so that
unmarried fathers who sign the birth certificate
jointly with the mother will
automatically have parental responsibility is included in the Adoption and
Children Act 2002 (which received Royal Assent on 7 November 2002). A date
for commencement is awaited. The Act extends to England and Wales but provides
for the recognition of parental responsibility obtained by joint registration in
Scotland and Northern Ireland to be recognised in
England and Wales should this
be the intention of those jurisdictions.

Violence against women

365. Stopping violence against women in all its
forms (including domestic and sexual violence) and bringing perpetrators to
justice
is a priority for the Government. It is a complex social problem that
causes poverty, ill health, social exclusion and loss of life.
Domestic Violence
accounts for almost a quarter (23%) of all violent crime. Roughly one in four
women will experience domestic violence
in their lifetime (British Crime Survey,
2000). Women are twice as likely as men to experience domestic violence from a
partner and
37% of female homicide victims were killed by their former or
current partner (Criminal Statistics, 1999). The Government recognises
that
preventing and eliminating this crime requires a unified and multifaceted
national approach, including active joined-up working
across all Government
departments to deliver co-ordinated policy action on this important issue. In
this context, the Government
established a Ministerial Working Group, in 2001,
to ensure concerted and co-ordinated action at the highest level. The group is
also working to strengthen the Government’s multifaceted and integrated
approach to tacking violence against women, in particular
domestic violence,
including legal, educational, financial and social components, in particular
support for victims. The aim of the
Group is to increase safe choices for women
and children, whether inside or outside the home; hold all those responsible
accountable
for perpetrating this crime; develop effective interventions to
prevent repeat attacks; and challenge the ‘just a domestic’
culture
and ensure that this crime is no longer excused, tolerated or ignored. The group
brings together Ministers from all major
departments who are concentrating on
developing joined up policy on 5 key areas of action, chosen for their capacity
to effect most
tangible change on this issue. The five areas for action are:
(i) early and effective healthcare intervention; (ii) increasing safe
accommodation choices for women and children; (iii) improving the interface
between civil and criminal law jurisdictions; (iv) awareness
raising and
education; and (v) appropriate and consistent response from the police and Crown
Prosecution Service.

366. The Women and Equality Unit with cross cutting responsibility in
Government works in partnership with the Home Office to ensure
effective joined
up working in Government on this issue. The Ministers for Women have been
charged with responsibility by the Ministerial
Group to take forward the
Government’s work on awareness raising and education. A strategy is being
developed with two overarching
aims to reach more women and children and raise
awareness of options for safety and protection; and to reduce social tolerance
of
the crime so that it is no longer excused, tolerated or ignored. The
Ministers for Women have also launched research into the economic
and social
costs of domestic violence. The research aims to describe the current position
in the UK in terms of the availability
and quality of data; develop a
methodology to estimate the economic and social costs in the UK and employ the
proposed methodology
to estimate costs borne by service providers, employers and
women and their families.

367. The Women and Equality Unit has been working in collaboration with other
government departments, statutory agencies, NGOs and
the voluntary sector on
ways to prevent violence against women, and provide protection, provision of
services and justice for women
where violence has occurred. The Unit continues
to consult a wide spectrum of NGOs and academic experts in the field of violence
against women, thereby facilitating the greater involvement of the NGO sector in
this area of Government policy. The Unit is working
in partnership with the
European Commission and other EU Member States to take forward the work on
violence against women, reinforcing
its holistic and multi-disciplinary
approach.

368. In 2002, the Home Office published and invited comments on a Criminal
Justice White Paper. This paper sets out a range of possible
measures: extending
the use of restraining orders; anonymity for victims in court; making breach of
a non-molestation order a criminal
offence; better liaison between the civil and
criminal courts; and domestic violence murder reviews. The Government published
a consultation
paper in June 2003, setting out proposals on preventing domestic
violence. The consultation aims to generate a comprehensive response
from the
public, voluntary sectors and others, to ensure the widest possible agreement on
what needs to be done to prevent and deal
with domestic violence. This
consultation consolidates the initial consultation on domestic violence in the
white paper and the ongoing
work of the Ministerial Group on Domestic Violence.
The proposals cover three broad aims: 1. Ensuring the safety of domestic
violence
victims; 2. Bringing offenders to justice; and 3. Strengthening
confidence in the criminal justice system. A draft Bill on domestic
violence
will be published later in the year.

369. Other significant developments made since 1999 include the publication
Living without fear: an integrated approach to tackling violence against
women (1999), setting out a unified and multi-faceted national strategy,
promoting an integrated and multi-agency approach with the aim
to provide timely
support and protection to women and children, bring perpetrators to justice and
prevent violence against women.
Living without Fear promulgated good
practice in order to achieve effective multi-agency strategies across the
national territory.

370. The 1998 Crime and Disorder Act placed a statutory requirement on
local authorities to effectively monitor the level of domestic violence in their
community and form
partnerships to reduce the problem. In 2000, the Home Office
published guidance on multi-agency working, Domestic Violence – Break
the Chain: multi agency guidance for addressing domestic violence. The
Government has also produced a leaflet entitled Loves Me Not (previously
Breaking the Chain) that provides help and advice for domestic violence
survivors. The leaflet, updated in 2002, focuses on helping survivors to
recognise
domestic violence and suggesting what action they can take to protect
themselves and contact help agencies. In 1999, the Home Office
commissioned a
major review of current knowledge and services on domestic violence and rape and
sexual assault. Findings, published
in 2000, formed the basis of a £10.7
million funding for the development and evaluation of projects addressing
domestic violence,
rape and sexual assault. A further £137 million has been
made available under the Safer Communities Fund that identifies safe
housing and support services for women and children fleeing domestic violence as
a priority.

371. Between 1999 and 2003, a range of Government departments have
commissioned research, produced circulars and made policy recommendations
on
violence against women. Through special grant programmes, core and project
funding has also been made available to major agencies
in the sector. Major
progress has also been made on improving civil and criminal law interventions.
This has included the introduction
of pro-arrest policies across all police
forces and the issuing of revised guidance to state prosecutors. Other work has
included
the proposed inclusion of domestic violence as a child protection issue
in primary legislation. The Government recognises and values
the important work
of women’s refuges. One of the Government’s key priorities for the
new Ministerial Group is increasing
safe accommodation choices for women and
children. The Supporting People Programme, is the new system of planning,
monitoring and funding for housing-related support services in England will form
an integral part
of delivering this aim, helping domestic violence survivors to
live more independent lives in the community. Revenue funding of £153
million is being provided to ensure the effective implementation of this
programme and in the run up to implementation £120
million additional
capital funding was made available to increase provision for specified
vulnerable groups that included women fleeing
domestic violence. In February
2003, the Government announced a £14 million cash boost to help tackle
domestic violence. This
three-year funding package will help the 376 Crime and
Disorder Reduction Partnerships across the country develop practical strategies
for dealing with domestic violence at a local level.

372. The Government announced an amendment to the Adoption and Children
Bill that will extend the definition of harm in the Children Act. The
amendment will make clear that harm includes any harm a child may suffer or is
at risk of suffering as a result of witnessing
the ill-treatment of another
person.

373. In 2002-03, a series of fact finding and awareness raisingvisits
were undertaken, by the Government, to hear more about the experiences of women
and the experiences of frontline providers.
Two of the visits were in specialist
minority ethnic projects. The first one, on 11th of July 2002, was in Derby at
the Hadhari Nari
Project, which was established in 1986 as a Black Women’s
Group to cater for the housing and social needs of all Black women.
The project
is also the main specialist Women’s Aid group serving the needs of Black,
Asian and other ethnic minority women.
The second, an awareness raising and
information gathering visit to Newham Asian Women’s Project Resource
Centre in Plaistow
on 20th January 2003. Newham Asian Women’s Project
(NAWP) co-ordinates a range of holistic support services for Asian women
and
children. Imkaan is a national second-tier research and policy group, which is
currently managed by NAWP.

374. In partnership with the Housing Corporation for Registered Social
Landlords, the Government will provide £18.9 million provide
273 units of
accommodation in all regions of England for these most vulnerable women and
their families. In addition to this, we
are committing a further £7 million
in each of the following two financial years to fund refuge provision. This is a
fantastic
new development and the substantial funding package will make a huge
difference to the ease with which women can find a place of
safety when they
most need it. In particular, it will provide a stepping stone to a new home and
a safer future for hundreds, if
not thousands, of women.

375. Maternity care is an important area of the health service for combating
domestic violence. Thirty percent of domestic violence
starts in pregnancy and
existing levels of violence can often escalate. The Government has therefore
recently commissioned programme
funding to pilot routine antenatal questioning
for domestic violence. The pilot project is being undertaken by the University
of
the West of England and North Bristol NHS Trust. The project will look
critically at (i) levels of domestic violence identified before
and after the
introduction of routine questioning in the antenatal period; (ii) outcomes for
both clients and practitioners across
a range of issues associated with
introduction of the screening tool; and (iii) education and support mechanisms
for health professionals
to enable them to implement and maintain effective
screening programmes and work across inter-agency boundaries to support
survivors
of domestic violence. Outcomes of the Bristol pilot will be fully
evaluated and available by the end of 2003. Through membership
of the project
steering group, the Department of Health will look closely at emerging findings
from the Bristol experience and consider
national rollout as part of the
maternity element of the Children’s National Service Framework. In the
longer term, the maternity
model could provide opportunities to extend routine
questioning to other areas of the NHS.

Forced Marriages

376. As part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to tackle the issue
of forced marriages, the Government is developing best
practice guidelines for
Social Services to help identify the key issues they face in dealing with
victims or potential victims of
forced marriages. To launch the initiative, a
three-day conference was organised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for
social
workers, non-governmental organisations and community groups. The
conference aimed to raise awareness of forced marriages; identify
key contacts
to work with over the next year in developing guidelines; and drawing up key
issues to be included in the guidelines.

Female Genital Mutilation

377. The Prohibition of Female Circumcision Act 1985 makes it an
offence (punishable up to 5 years imprisonment, an unlimited fine or both) to
carry out the procedure known as female
circumcision. The Government regards the
genital mutilation of any girl or female infant as unacceptable, regardless of
their ethnic
origin. The Government is currently considering whether the law
should be strengthened to make it an offence to take girls abroad
for genital
mutilation even where this is lawful in the country where it occurs. Under the
Female Genital Mutilation Bill, a Private Members Bill introduced by Ann
Clwyd MP on 11 December 2002, will, if it becomes law, restate and extend the
provisions
of the 1985 Act and give them extra-territorial effect. See article
12 for more information on Government action on this issue.

Crime Reduction Programme Violence against Women Initiative

378. The Reducing Violence against Women Initiative is part of the
national Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) — an evidence-led
initiative that aims to identify the most effective, and cost effective
approaches to reducing domestic
violence, rape and sexual assault by known
perpetrators, and to disseminate good practice. 30 multi-agency projects were
commissioned
in July 2000, and these are being independently evaluated to assess
their effectiveness and impact. In March 2001, an additional
24 projects were
commissioned. The projects are victim-focused and provide information, advice
and support to empower survivors to
report incidents to the police and to other
agencies, as well as enabling them to make informed decisions. The findings and
lessons
from the initiative will be made available in 2003.

Criminal justice procedures to deal with domestic violence

379. The review and conduct of criminal proceedings in England and Wales is
the responsibility of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
In November 2001,
following extensive and unprecedented consultation with the voluntary sector,
the CPS issued a revised policy on
prosecuting cases of domestic violence. The
new policy focuses particularly on: victims’ priorities (safety, support
and information);
greater co-ordination between criminal proceedings and civil
proceedings; and constructing cases, wherever possible, on the basis
of evidence
other than that of the victim.

380. To support the launch of the new policy in November 2001, a new national
Network of CPS Domestic Violence Co-ordinators was set
up. The CPS is divided
into 42 areas across England and Wales. Each of those areas has several
prosecutors who are particularly experienced
in prosecuting domestic violence
cases. Now each area also has a Network Co-ordinating prosecutor who can share
good practice with
or identify problems and ask for help from their Network
colleagues across England and Wales. They play an active role in inter-agency
domestic violence fora and their contact numbers can be given to external
partners (such as the voluntary sector) for effective and
consistent local
delivery of national prosecuting policy. The Network held its first Conference
in June 2002. Since 24 July 2002,
special measures such as TV links/screens have
been available to assist some vulnerable or intimidated witnesses give evidence
in
court. (Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999). The Government
intends to introduce further legislation in 2002 to help tackle domestic
violence and hold abusers accountable for
their actions.

Rape and Sexual Assault

381. The Government launched a research study on Rape and Sexual Assault
of women: findings from the British Crime Survey. The study demonstrates
that sexual assault is part of the wider problem of domestic violence that is
already a Government priority.
The study findings showed that numbers of sexual
victimisation were higher than the levels of reporting; in particular, rape is
one
of the most under-reported
crimes[22]. (See table 16.2, annex
2, p. 18). In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number
of rapes reported. Police
and Government action to support the victims of sexual
assaults is likely to have increased the number being brought to the attention
of the police, and therefore recorded by them. Recognising that the levels of
conviction for rape are low, the Government is intensifying
its efforts to
tackle this problem. Specifically, the Government set out an action plan for
tackling the low reporting and conviction
rates for rape. The Government has put
in place a range of initiatives designed to address the criminal and civil law
interface and
monitor the effectiveness of intervention measures.

382. In response to this report, the Government published an action plan in
July 2002, which details practical measures at every stage
of the criminal
justice process. The overarching aim of the plan is to improve the conviction
rates for rape by (i) improving the
investigation of rape cases; (ii) enhancing
the quality of advice, decision making, case preparation and presentation at
court; and
(iii) bettering the treatment of victims and witnesses in cases
involving allegations of rape. Specific measures to achieve this
include:

• A review of existing facilities for victim examination across all
police forces.

• The launch of a ‘first response’ kit for police officers
to prevent the loss of vital forensic evidence in cases
of rape.

• A review of training for police officers who deal with rape
victims.

• Revisiting the criteria for classification of offences.

• The development of a network of specialist rape prosecutors
throughout the country.

• A review of the training for prosecutors on cases involving rape and
sexual offences.

• A commitment that a second opinion will be sought from a specialist
Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor on all decisions
to drop a rape case or
reduce charges.

• Early legal advice from the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure the
correct charge is made from the beginning of a case involving
rape allegations.

• The development of new CPS guidance on the prosecution of rape, with
advice on how to proceed when statements are retracted.

• Measures to ensure that the lessons of cases are learnt through
reviews by the police and CPS following acquittal.

• The development of protocols between the police and CPS for
submission of advice files in rape cases.

• Updated guidance and instructions to Chief Crown Prosecutors and
police officers regarding good practice in relation to procedure
and victim
care.

383. Through these improvements, the Government wants to give victims of rape
more confidence in the criminal justice system and encourage
them to report
offences of rape. It is also important to send a strong message to perpetrators
that this crime will not be tolerated
and the law will be enforced. In order to
ensure that the action plan is translated into changes which will be of real
benefit to
the victims of this repulsive crime, an inter-agency working group is
now monitoring progress against the plan. In April 2002, the
Chief Inspectors of
Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and Her
Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary
published a joint report Joint
Inspection into the Investigation and Prosecution of Cases Involving Allegations
of Rape. The Review analysed and assessed the quality of investigation,
decision-making and prosecution by police and the CPS, in cases involving
allegations of rape. The Inspectors made a number of recommendations and
suggestions as well as identifying good practice.

Trafficking in women

384. The Home Secretary has indicated in a White Paper, that he intends to
use the Asylum Bill to strengthen the law by introducing
a new offence on
trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation to carry a maximum penalty
of 14 years and also a new offence
on trafficking for labour exploitation. The
Government is committed to doing this within two years of the adoption of the EU
Framework
Decision on trafficking in human beings. See article 6 for further
information.

Northern Ireland

Violence against Women

385. The Northern Ireland Office is currently co-ordinating, on behalf of the
Northern Ireland Departments, the development of a strategy
to tackle violence
against women in Northern Ireland. The strategy will look at a range of crimes
where women are predominantly the
victims including domestic violence. Sexual
crime and fear of crime will also be dealt with under the strategy. The tackling
violence
against women strategy will focus on improved prevention, protection
and provision of service to women.

Legislation

386. The Family Homes and Domestic Violence (Northern Ireland) Order
1998 highlights the importance of dealing with domestic violence in Northern
Ireland. Its remedies are available to a wide category of
applicants and breach
of the orders made under the legislation is an arrestable offence The Order also
makes provisions in relation
to child contact where there is domestic violence
in the family. The Government intends to legislate to address three anomalous
areas
of family law that treat men and women differently, namely the common law
rule of maintenance, the rule in relation to housekeeping
monies and the
presumption of advancement.

Criminal Justice

387. Over recent years in Northern Ireland there have been a number of
initiatives introduced into the various agencies that make
up the criminal
justice system. As a result of the Criminal Justice Review, the Criminal
Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1999 was introduced which provides special
measures in trials involving vulnerable or intimidated witnesses. The
definitions of such witnesses
are drafted in a way as to include those who are
vulnerable either because of the offence, or because of a relationship with a
defendant,
thus covering victims in domestic violence cases. The order has not
yet commenced as the necessary Court Rules are yet to be produced,
but it is
expected that the commencement orders will be made in 2003.

388. The Northern Ireland Court Service (NICtS) has introduced special
arrangement at all Crown Court venues and most venues and most
Magistrates
Courts to allow women who are attending court as either victims or witnesses to
have access to separate and secure waiting
facilities. The NICtS is committed
through its accommodation strategy to improving the standards of facilities
available at all courts.
Women using courts are being consulted, through court
user groups, to try and identify the assistance and information they need to
reduce fear and anxiety that is often associated with court attendance. The
NICtS has dealt with 4689 interim and full applications
for Non –
Molestation Orders during 2001. A number of joint orders (non–molestation
and occupation) were also dealt with.

389. All staff from the Probation Board Northern Ireland (PBNI) receive
training on domestic violence. PBNI also run Perpetrator Programmes
in 3 areas
of Northern Ireland. The programmes are delivered in partnership with Social
Services and contain adjudicated offenders
and offenders who have not been
convicted of domestic violence but where this has been highlighted as an
issue.

391. The Northern Ireland Police Service (PSNI) currently has 35 officers
employed in the role of domestic violence officer. These
officers receive
initial training in domestic violence followed by a further accredited
certificate course from the University of
Teeside in Professional Policing
(Domestic Violence). However, a review into the role of the Domestic Violence
Officers is underway.
This review is to examine the possibility of making these
officers investigate and will make recommendations about how to improve
services
offered to victims of domestic violence, especially those who are repeat
victims. The PSNI are also reviewing their information
recording system and will
introduce a new Domestic Incident Report Form on the Integrated Crime
Information Systems (ICIS) in the
Autumn of 2003. This will provide an
accessible database providing relevant information including previous incidents
for operations
police officers who are often required to take a decisive action
at the scene of a domestic incident. All new recruits to the PSNI
receive
training in domestic violence including training from domestic violence officers
and external organisations.

392. With the aim to ensure effective accounting of domestic violence cases,
the Police in Northern Ireland introduced a new method
of recording the number
of domestic violence cases, in 1997. Indeed, before the introduction of the new
system, many domestic violence
cases were lost from the police statistics as
domestic violence is prosecuted under a number of different offences from
assault to
criminal damage and it was difficult to distinguish domestic violence
cases. Consequently, under the new system, the number of domestic
violence
registered increased from around 8500 in 1997 to 14000 in 1998. The Government
believes that this is a result of the more
effective accounting method rather
than an increase in the number of domestic violence cases in real terms as there
are no available
statistics to demonstrate that women in Northern Ireland are
particularly affected by violence.

Support for victims of Domestic
Violence

393. In Northern Ireland, the Family Homes and Domestic Violence (NI)
Order was implemented in March 1999. Its provisions are currently being
reviewed to ascertain whether there are any areas that need to
be improved to
assist users of the legislation. This review has involved input from the major
stakeholders in Northern Ireland, and
results are anticipated in 2003.

394. The Regional Forum on Domestic Violence is an inter-departmental
group established in response to a research project commissioned by the
Department of Health and Social
Services in 1992. In 1995 the group published a
joint policy document, Tackling Domestic Violence – A policy for
Northern Ireland which identified 4 main priorities to be addressed in
tackling domestic violence: to raise public awareness of domestic violence
as a
serious problem; to challenge seriously the attitudes and behaviour of those who
perpetrate or condone it; to improve support
and treatment services of all
survivors; and to build a clearer picture of the nature and extent of domestic
violence. The Forum’s
achievements to date include the establishment of
local inter-agency networks; the development of training and information
programmes;
a pilot scheme for cautioning first time offenders; a treatment
programme for perpetrators; and a public awareness campaign. A review
of the
role and remit of the Forum has recently concluded and a new Mission Statement
has been formulated to, ‘work together,
and with others, to reduce
domestic violence and its effects on family life and society.’ Two
additional priorities were identified
and agreed: to achieve a multi-agency /
integrated response to domestic violence; and to review the adequacy of current
and influence
future legislation. The first meeting of the new Forum was held in
February and included representatives from 3 Government Departments,
local
Health and Social Services Boards, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the
Probation Board Northern Ireland, the Lord Chief
Justice’s Office and 2
organisations from the voluntary sector.

Marriage and Family Relations

395. In Northern Ireland registered housing associations provide all social
housing including housing for people with special needs
and victims of domestic
violence. Day-to-day management is carried out by voluntary organisations such
as the Northern Ireland Women’s
Aid Federation (NIWAF). By March 2002,
associations had provided 28 refuges for vulnerable women (with or without
children) totalling
502 places. A further 2 refuges with 20 places are planned
during the next three years.

Scotland

Family Law Act 1996

396. The Scottish Executive White Paper Parents and Children was
issued in September 2000 following the 1999 consultation paper Improving
Scottish Family Law. The White Paper proposes to: reduce the periods of
separation constituting grounds for divorce to discourage acrimony in
proceedings;
improve the protection of present and former partners against
domestic abuse; give rights to cohabitants to make a financial claim
on the
cessation of the cohabitation either by separation or the death of the other
cohabitant; enable step-parents to obtain parental
responsibilities and rights
(PRRs) by registering an agreement jointly with others already having PRRs; and
to encourage the involvement
of unmarried fathers with their families, by giving
parental responsibilities and rights to fathers who in future register the birth
of a child jointly with the mother. This will not apply retrospectively to allow
some protection for the mother and her family from
potentially violent partners.
A draft bill is expected during the course of the next parliament, subject to
the views of incoming
Ministers.

Violence against women

397. Preventing Violence Against Women: Action Across the Scottish
Executive was published in October 2001. It takes account of comments
received on the Action Plan published for consultation in 1998 and provides
comprehensive information about violence against women and how it is being
tackled. The Scottish Partnership on Domestic Abuse, established
in 1998 with a
remit to recommend minimum standards and levels of service for women
experiencing domestic abuse, reported to Scottish
Ministers in November 2000 and
produced a National Strategy to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland. The
Scottish Executive is committed to implementing the National Strategy and has
established a National Group to Address Domestic
Abuse in Scotland with a remit
to:

• Oversee the implementation of the National Strategy;

• Identify and disseminate good practice;

• Identify key issues and develop a common national response

• Provide advice in relation to monitoring data and the identification
of the research required;

• Establish and oversee a structure of specific issue-based groups and
local multi-agency groups working with a coherent framework;

• Review and monitor progress against the Action Plan;

• Consider links between domestic abuse and the wider issues of
violence against women.

398. The National Group is composed of key experts from the areas of the
police, education, health, local government, racial equality,
the law and the
voluntary sector and is chaired by the Minister for Social Justice. The National
Group has so far set up four working
groups to look at the provision of refuge,
review current legislation, develop a prevention strategy and develop a training
strategy.

The Refuge Development Programme

399. The Scottish Executive will provide £10 million through the
Communities Scotland budget to build or purchase new refuges
or to adapt, extend
and upgrade existing ones over three years from April 2001. Local authorities
were invited to bid for capital
housing projects to be developed by Registered
Social Landlords in conjunction with women’s aid. Ten projects began in
2001-02
and three projects in 2002-03. For the final year of the programme 16
projects in 14 local authority areas were given approval in
December to begin in
2003.

The Domestic Abuse Service Development Fund

400. The Domestic Abuse Service Development Fund started in April 2000.
Initially for two years but extended to 2004, the Fund provides
£3 million
a year (£1.5 million from the Executive and £1.5 million matched
funding) for projects that carry forward
the work in the National Strategy at
local level. Fifty-seven projects are currently being supported.

Public Awareness Raising

401. Progress continues to be made in raising awareness in Scotland, The
Executive’s “Behind Closed Doors” domestic
abuse campaign
continued during 2001/2002 using TV adverts, print adverts, an 8 page supplement
distributed with the Daily Record
on 26 December 2001, adverts on outdoor sites
and in female washrooms in public places and beermats in 450 pubs in Dundee,
Edinburgh,
Glasgow and Aberdeen. In addition, the domestic abuse website was
improved and re-launched. A new television advertisement was launched
on 26
December 2002. “Dolls House” makes it clear how domestic abuse
affects children. The advertisements carry a helpline
number, which is open
between 10 am and 10 pm seven days a week. The line is sponsored by Thus PLC and
managed by North Ayrshire
Women’s Aid.

Scottish Strategy for Victims

402. The ScottishStrategy for Victims, which was published in
January 2001, aims to put all victims at the heart of the criminal justice
system. It seeks to ensure better
support, information and participation for all
victims of crime, including women. Work already undertaken includes:

• The publication of Action Plans by all agencies within the Scottish
Criminal Justice system to implement the objectives in
the Scottish Strategy
for Victims;

• The publication of a victim information leaflet in October 2001;

• Scottish Victims of Crime website launched on 19 August 2002;

• The establishment, in 2002, of a Witness Service in all 49 Sheriff
Courts. This service will be rolled out to High Courts
in 2003;

• The roll out of a Victim Information and Advice (VIA) service as part
of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, to
provide case-specific
information to witnesses and victims. Six out of eleven Procurator Fiscal areas
now have a VIA office and the
roll out will be completed in 2003;

• The publication of a Progress Report against the objectives in the
Scottish Strategy for Victims in February 2003.

403. In addition, the Scottish Executive published a consultation document in
May 2002 on the needs of vulnerable witnesses; and the
Sexual Offences
(Procedure and Evidence) (Scotland) Act 2002 prohibits an accused from
personally questioning the complainer in sexual offence cases and requires an
accused in such cases to
be legally represented throughout the whole trial.
Moreover, the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill includes a section on
victims’ issues. The Bill includes provisions that seek to:

• Pilot victim statements schemes;

• Give victims of certain crimes the right to be informed of the
possible release of the offender from prison;

• Give victims of certain crimes the right to make representations
before any decision to release the offender from prison is
made, to be told of
the impending release of the offender and about any special conditions attached
to that release which concern
them;

• Give the Police powers to pass information about victims to
authorised victim support agencies.

404. In Scotland, there are currently 5 courthouses that have fixed
facilities that enable vulnerable witnesses to give their evidence
by live
television link. There are also 9 sets of mobile equipment available which can
be set up in the remaining court houses should
vulnerable witnesses need to give
their evidence by this method. There is also a project underway to introduce
new technology into
all courtrooms that will allow evidence to be delivered
electronically. The Scottish Court Service has also refurbished 43 court
buildings that now provide separate rooms for children and other vulnerable
witnesses.

Wales

Domestic Violence And Violence against Women

405. Lead responsibility for the criminal aspects of domestic violence in
England and Wales rests with the Home Office. The National
Assembly for Wales
does, however, have devolved responsibility for a number of cross-cutting
issues, including health and social
services and child protection. A
multi-agency Working Group on Domestic Violence and Violence against Women in
Wales has been set
up to develop new initiatives to help reduce domestic
violence and violence against women. A number of suggestions for new initiatives
and pilot projects are currently being considered, including provision of a
telephone helpline and a Guidance Manual on Domestic
Violence for schools. A
comprehensive domestic violence strategy for Wales is also to be developed, and
a Task Group is being set
up to take this forward.

Support for victims of Domestic Violence

406. From April 2003, the level of Assembly Government funding for domestic
violence projects has been increased to some £1.3
million per year. 11
projects are being supported, including core funding of £384,640 for the
year 2003/04 to support the work
of Welsh Women’s Aid. On 1 April the
Supporting People programme will also become operational in Wales. This
programme provides
a unified funding stream, initially through the Assembly
Government, for people receiving support in all forms of supported housing,
including housing for all people escaping domestic violence.

407. In February 2003, the Welsh Assembly Government hosted a major
conference on domestic violence for policy makers from Wales,
England, Scotland,
Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which was organised as part of the
‘Raising the Standards’
Inter-Governmental initiative established in
2000. This aims to help address domestic violence throughout the United Kingdom
and
Republic of Ireland by sharing information on policy initiatives,
co-ordinating research and developing good practice to mutually
raise the
standards of services to victims. Topics covered at this conference included the
effects of domestic violence on children,
religion and alcohol, asylum seekers
and forced marriages.

Publications

408. In October 2001, the Assembly launched an internet version of a domestic
violence resource manual for health care professionals
which gives staff
throughout the health service up to date information on giving advice to victims
of domestic violence. Hard copies
of this have now been produced, and are being
made available to health care professionals throughout Wales. The Assembly is
also
currently producing a model protocol, highlighting the child protection
aspects of domestic abuse, which will be issued to all Area
Child Protection
Committees in Wales.

Refuge provision

409. There are 32 local groups subscribed to Welsh Women’s Aid, running
40 refuges and 22 information centres between them.
The National Assembly for
Wales provides all core funding for Welsh Women’s Aid, which amounts to
£341,640 for the year
2002/03. This money supports their national team,
which consists of 14 staff over 3 national offices.

[1] UK initial report and
subsequent periodic reports on the implementation of the Convention.

[2] The UK Government is referred
to as the ‘Government’ in the following pages.

[4] This section is taken from Paul
Chaney and Ralph Fevre’s ‘An Absolute Duty – Equal
Opportunities and the National
Assembly for Wales’.

[5] Research carried out by Paul
Chaney and Ralph Fevre and the Institute of Welsh Affairs.

[6] The term ‘discrimination
against women’ shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction made
on the basis of sex
which has the effect or purpose of impairing or nullifying
the recognition, enjoyment or exercise by women, irrespective of their
marital
status, on a basis of equality of men and women, of human rights and fundamental
freedoms in the political, economic, social,
cultural, civil or any other field.
(Article 1, CEDAW).

[7] Section 60 of Part IV was not
implemented in 1997. This section gives the Lord Chancellor the power to make
rules of court to allow
a prescribed person (a representative), or category of
person, to make applications under Part IV, on behalf of survivors of domestic
violence. Rules made under this section may authorise a representative to apply
for an occupation or non-molestation order instead
of the
‘survivor’.

[9] Section 28 of the Local
Government Act 1986, or section 28 as it has become known, was originally
introduced to prohibit the promotion
by local authorities of “the
teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a
pretended family relationship”. However, section 28 never applied to
schools, this is governed by the Education Act 1996 as amended by the Learning
and Skills Act
2000 — not by Section 28. Government’s position is
that it is an unnecessary piece of legislation which many people find
deeply
offensive since it stigmatises the lifestyles of gay and lesbian people. The
Government is working to tackle actual and perceived
discrimination on the
grounds of sexual orientation. It believes s.28 should be repealed.

[13] In total, women can serve in
73% of posts in the Naval Service, 70% of posts in the Army and 96% of posts in
the Royal Air Force.
Women now make up more than 8% of the strength of the
regular Armed Forces and over 10% of recruits to the enlisted ranks and almost
20% of officer recruits are women.

[14] The term
“refugee” are recognised refugees who are granted indefinite leave
to remain within the terms of the 1951 Convention
on the Status of Refugees or
those given four years exceptional leave to remain as persons in need of
protection in accordance with
obligations under the ECHR and the Convention
against Torture.

[17] These figures are derived
from the Labour Force Survey. Women with dependent children are either the head
of the family unit or the
wife or partner of the head of family unit. Women
without dependent children may include some who are not parents but who do have
some caring responsibilities for children in the family unit.

[18] This figure is taken from
the survey evidence as collected by DTI in Autumn 2000, which found that 12 per
cent of employed parents
who said that their employer provided parental leave
also said that they had taken parental leave since December 1999 when the right
was first introduced. This equates to about 3 per cent of all employed parents.
The range of 3 — 12 per cent allows for uncertainties
about provisions for
parental leave in the workplace, and also to the fact that take-up is likely to
increase over time as awareness
of entitlements increases.

[19] Those with a disability
which has a substantial adverse impact on their day-to-day activities or limits
kind or amount of work and
those known to have a progressive condition.

[21] As part of the continuing
drive to modernise the constitution and public services, the Prime Minister
announced on 12 June 2003 the
creation of a new Department for Constitutional
Affairs. This incorporates most of the responsibilities of the former Lord
Chancellor’s
Department. The Scotland and Wales Offices continue to exist
under the umbrella of the Department for Constitutional Affairs, but
report to
the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales respectively.

[22] Home Office Research,
Development and Statistics Directorate. March 2002.